Maximum Ride: The last Journey
by alpha-range
Summary: Max and the flock are off on another exciting journey, will Max and Fang finally get together? Will the flock survive? Read to find out! FAX! Please read and review. Rated T because that's what MR actually is.
1. Part: 1, Chapter: 1

**(A/N Hello there, readers of my other stories and those that have just stopped by. This IS NOT the sequel to School Hard, but a seperate story. It ttakes place after the Final Warning. Please read and review. Love, Nix xXx)**

Part one: Everything has a beginning…

1.

There's something to be said about flying; something about it just screams peace and freedom, so unlike walking the busy streets below.

The flock and I were back in good old' New York, the one place we'd ever been where we- a flock of Avian-Americans (yes, that's flying bird-kids to you)- were the most normal people around. It was a pretty extraordinary place, filled with plenty of pretty extraordinary people; and for once, we blended. Needless to say, it was one of mine and the flock's favourite places in the world, topped only by my Mom's house in Arizona.

I looked around, Fang- my right hand man and best friend- was flying slightly above me and to my left; Iggy and The Gasman (and trust me, he lives up to his namesake) were flying side-by-side slightly behind Fang. Their voices were lowered and I had a sinking feeling that they were discussing bombs, great. Nudge and Angel were on my right, Angel was carrying Total (our talking dog who was currently learning to fly), all three of them were laughing and whooping as they spun in tight barrel rolls and somersaults.

"Heads up guys, find an alley and we'll head down and find somewhere to eat." I said, before Nudge could cut in with her usual 'Max, I'm hungry' line. I heard excited mumbles and smiled slightly, I loved being able to make them happy- not that it happened often, with our lifestyle, but still, it made it all worth while.

_'They should be happy that they're alive Max, and that's all thanks to you.'_ The voice intoned.

_'Ah, I wondered when you were going to jump back in and work some of your riddle magic.'_

I answered sourly, there was nothing better to put a girl (okay, teenage mutant-bird-freak, but still) in a bad mood then the voice in her head returning.

_'It's time for your last mission, Max. It's time to end it.'_

It said, and then pain exploded behind my eyes, my wings folded and I dropped like a stone; trying- and failing- to suppress my screams of agony. I registered voices screaming my name, but I was too busy trying to cancel out the pain, paying attention to the images, sounds and videos that were whizzing through my head, whilst holding said head together in one piece. And then the Icy blackness claimed me and my last thought was:

_'Well, 'aint life grand?'._


	2. Part: 1, Chapter: 2

__

2.

The first thing I noticed when I came too was the fact that I was moving, not falling, just moving. The second was that my head was pounding, and the third? I was gunna hurl. I rolled away from whatever the source of the movement was, landing on my hands and knees and barfing instantly. '_How attractive'_ I thought as I blinked my eyes open. Fang was beside me, one of his hands holding my hair back and the other steadying me, the rest of the flock were stood around watching me. Feeling much better already, just knowing that my flock was there and I _wasn't_ dead I stood uneasily. I was surprised to find that I was pretty steady on my feet and looked around. The seven of us- yes, I had counted the dog- were in a narrow alleyway, behind a tall building. I nodded slightly to myself.

"Okay guys, let's get going." I said, breaking the silence, Fang made to object but I silenced him with a glare. He sighed and nodded at the flock. Huh, since when do I need his approval? The three younger flock members, Total and Iggy headed out of the alley and I pulled on my windbreaker before Fang and I followed them.

"Was it a brain attack?" Fang asked quietly, as the two of us walked slightly behind the others. I nodded. "It was worse then the others." He stated, and I nodded again.

"How did you..." I trailed off.

"You screamed." Came his reply. "I've never heard you scream like that before, not even back at the school. I thought you were dying." I glanced over at him; his head was ducked slightly, looking at the floor. Where was all of this emotion coming from?

"I'm sorry." I muttered as we neared the others. He shrugged slightly.  
"It's not your fault- but seriously, next time you even _think_ you're going to drop out of the sky, can you let me know? I almost didn't get to you in time." He said, before joining the others. '_If only it was as easy as that'_ I thought to myself.

It wasn't long before the flock picked out a fast-food place of some sort; I wasn't really paying attention, just nodded and followed them in. It wasn't a bad place, and no-one here looked like an evil robot or scheming scientist, but you can never be sure.

"Get as much as you want, and then head to that table at the back." I told Angel, who was the closest to the front of the queue, she nodded and her blonde curls flew around her somewhat dirty face. She needed a shower, we all needed a shower. The flock, as usual, stunned the poor guy at the counter with their orders, but he dutifully typed them into his machine regardless.

"Are you sure that you can afford all of this?" He asked, eyeing The Gasman's dirty clothes, I held up the credit card and he seemed relieved.

"And what can I get you?" He asked, clearly dreading the answer, I offered him a smile.

"I'll just take a chicken burger and some fries." I said, not sure my stomach could take much more. He returned the smile.

"I'll send your orders over to your table." He said and the seven of us (Total was being Iggy's seeing-eye dog again) headed over to the table that I'd pointed to. Almost as soon as we sat down at the booth I began to feel claustrophobic, and I knew that Fang and Iggy felt the same. I saw Fang look at me questioningly and knew he was wondering about my pathetic order, I touched a hand to my stomach and he nodded slightly.


	3. Part: 1, Chapter: 3

**(A/N Hey guys, I've decided that I'm going to do my best to keep A/N's on this story to a minimum, so when you see no authors note it doesn't mean that internally I don't want loads more reviews (because I do, seriously, 3?) just that I don't want to bug you, so, bye bye :D **

**-Nix xXx)**

3.

It wasn't long before the flock and I had devoured our food- seemingly shocking everyone in the immediate vicinity, and we were preparing to leave.

_'Three blocks across, there's a hotel called 'The Westin New York'; spend the night there. There are reservations under the name of Maxine Martinez and Nick Ride.'_

The voice informed me, and I found myself glad that we were spending the night in the hotel, after the day I'd had, I _really_ wanted a shower.

"Come on guys, we're on our way to a nice hotel." I said and they grinned, practically jumping out of their seats, I laughed slightly and the seven of us headed out. I lead the way, and once I'd reached the co-ordinates I stopped, and my mouth fell open in shock. This place looked more like a freaking modern day palace then a hotel! I could feel the flock's stares on my back and composed myself before turning around.

"Are you serious Max? We're staying here? OMG! This place is huge! I've always wanted to go to a really big hotel, like the really expensive ones, you know? But we never had the money and..." Nudge was cut short as Iggy placed his hand over her mouth.

"Apparently, I am serious, Nudge." I said and then looked us over. Our clothes were ratty, dirty and covered in holes, our hair was a mess and we were covered in dirt. We looked like we'd just walked out of the musical 'Oliver', and I must say, the pickpockets looked in better shape then us. I sighed, knowing that we were going to stick out like a sore thumb, but entering none the less. The hotel was even more spectacular inside, and it was hard to resist the urge to turn and walk straight back out of the door. I nodded to the flock, and they walked over to some arm-chairs as Fang and I headed to the front desk.

"Excuse me." I said, politely (a miracle, I know). "We have reservations here, I'm Maxine Martinez and this is Nick Ride." The guy grinned big.

"I'm pleased to meet you. Did you enjoy your camping trip? Your father told me all about it, it sounds like fun." The bubbly guy behind the counter said. I nodded and smiled a fake smile, I could feel people staring at us and it was making me nervous. "It looks as if you did, it's a good thing your father sent your luggage ahead of you really." He said, handing over three keys.

"They're on the top floor, have a good day." He said and I nodded, I turned and the flock stood and followed us to the lift.

Have you ever tried cramming six mutant bird kids, a mutant dog, three business men and a maid in a lift before? No? Well let me tell you right now, it's _not_ a good idea. The flock and I practically leapt out of the doors and into the hallway. I glanced at the numbers on the keys as I walked down the corridors.

"So who's rooming with whom then?" I asked, I figured I might as well give them the option.

"Ooh, bagsee going with Angel." Nudge said and I smiled at the two of them.

"Dibs on Iggy." The Gasman said; which left me with Mr tall, dark and annoying. Great. I nodded and came to a stop as I saw the first of the three numbers, there was a sign on the door that said 'Junior suite'. I opened the door and stepped in, the place was huge!

"Oooh, me and Angel call this one." Said Nudge as she and Angel threw their backpacks on the white sheets on the bed, much to my chagrin. The next room was exactly the same and Iggy and Gassy called that one, the remaining room was opposite the other two and said 'Presidential suite' on the door. Confused I opened the door and stepped into paradise. I'm not even kidding. This place was about the same size as the whole of our house back in Colorado. It was as I was stood in awe that Fang entered the room, he took in my expression, the size of the room and then _laughed_. Seriously, not just a chuckle, but a _laugh._ I swear my heart stopped beating, but the blood rising in my cheeks proved otherwise. Without another word I headed over to the six large trunks on one of the large couches, accompanied by another, smaller trunk. Each one was labelled with a name of a flock member and I cautiously opened the one with my name on it. It was filled to the brim with clothes. '_What the hell?'_ I thought, and then noticed the square envelope. I ripped it open and began to read:

_'My dearest Max,_

_These are for you and the flock, I know you won't be able to carry them round with you, but I'll have them shipped to all of the hotels that you'll be staying in for when you get there. And I'm sorry if the suites and clothes seem a little excessive, but you need to appear rich, and this will help. It's all a part of the greater plan._

_Try to trust me,_

_Jeb xxx'_

Huh, who knew the man had a heart? I knew Fang was reading the letter over my shoulder as I did a 360. Of course, whilst doing so, I caught my first glimpse of the bathroom, it was around about then I wondered if I _had_ actually died and gone to heaven.


	4. Part: 1, Chapter: 4

4.

I walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, noticing the slight problem for the first time. One bed. Great, I thought as I felt my breathing come slightly faster. _'Chill Max, it's not like you don't usually sleep side by side every night.'_ I thought to myself, and, reassured I headed into the main room, the minute I stepped in everyone stopped. Except Iggy, who was just as confused as me.

"What?" I asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

"You look so hot, Max! Seriously, every guy we meet will be drooling over you. I wish I was that pretty!" Nudge squealed, but was cut off, once again, by Iggy's hand.

"Haha, very funny. Now can everyone stop staring at me and we can go and get some food?" No-one moved and I fidgeted uncomfortably in my new clothes, waiting for everyone to start laughing and say 'fooled you!'.

"We're being serious, Max." Angel said slowly, as if she were talking to a three-year-old.

"Angel, send me a picture already!" Iggy growled, and then a look of surprise crossed his face.

"Jeez. Max, they're right. You're really hot." He said.

"Not hot, beautiful." Fang corrected from across the room, I began to fidget more.  
"Seriously guys, stop it. We're going to go and get some food now, and you guys are going to stop, okay?" I said, turning and walking out of the door. I heard them follow and then Fang was at my side.

"Well that was awkward." I said lightly, Fang sighed.

"My god, Max, why can't you get it through your thick head that you really are beautiful, no-one's yanking your chain." He said.

"I just...come on, Fang. It's me! Anyway, it doesn't matter, the restaurant's this way." I said, and lead the way into the large room.

"Oh, my, lord." I said, apparently _everything_ in this hotel was spectacular. People were turned to look at us, and, I must say, thanks to Jeb, we did look the part of spoilt rich kids. I shifted nervously, closer to Fang, though why I wasn't sure. Something about him just always screamed protection, maybe because I'd seen what I could do, or maybe because he was my best friend; I wasn't sure. He seemed to notice my discomfort as he flashed me a smile, not a half smile, but one of his rare, and dazzling, full smiles- making the world seem ten times brighter.

The flock and I headed to an empty table and seated ourselves, we picked out the usually obnoxious orders of food.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" A waiter, who looked just older then Fang, Iggy and I asked. The flock all listed their food, needless to say the waiter's jaw practically hit the floor with surprise.

"Are you sure you'll be able to pay for this? It's an awful amount of food, and money." He warned, I sighed. How was I going to explain that I had a credit card that would never run out of money?

_'Repeat after me, Max; do you know who I am? My father is Jeb Batchelder, the director of Itexicon Industries.'_

The voice instructed, and for once I did what I was told. I could see the flock's surprised looks.

"Jason!" An older man snapped. "What are you doing, questioning them? They're the 'special guests' that I was telling you about! Now go and get their food." An older man barked, I felt bad for the guy, but needed to keep up my pretence of a snotty-nosed kid.

"Jeez, Max, what was that?" Fang murmured as the embarrassed and confused kid headed to the kitchen. I tapped the side of my head discreetly and he lifted his eyes to the ceiling and then the floor, showing that he understood. The flock waited patiently for their food and when it arrived it took three waiters to carry it all, including Jason- his cheeks still tinged pink.

"I'm so sorry about earlier." He said softly, looking at the floor as he placed down several food-laden plates. I couldn't help but smile at him.

"It's alright, I overreacted." I said, before I could catch the slip. Smooth Max, way smooth. He looked up and grinned.  
"Well, come back some time soon." He said with another smile that had Fang tensing next to me as Jason turned and left, what the hell was his problem?


	5. Part: 1, Chapter: 5

_5._

Okay, so you know how I had myself completely reassured about sharing a bed with Fang? Well not so much now that I was lying next to him. I was on high alert, tense and ready for fight or flight. What can I say? We really don't have a good track record with hotels.

"Jeez, Max, would you relax already?" Fang hissed. "You're safe." That was easy for him to say, he hadn't been kidnapped and replaced by an evil clone whilst sleeping in a hotel in the past.

"You know what? I think I'm gunna go and get some air." I said, climbing out of the bed and heading towards the balcony. I shut the door silently behind me and looked out across the city. Lights littered the scene below and I could barely make out the people walking the street below us. There was a full moon in the sky and the stars seemed strangely bright.

'_So voice, why exactly are we here?'_ I asked, hoping that it would give me an outright answer for once.

'_That depends, do you mean here as in New York, or this overly posh hotel?'_ Came the response.

'_How about both?'_ I asked.

'_Well, you're in New York to shut down another Itex facility called Manticore. They're trying to make the ultimate soldier. And you're in this hotel because you're undercover as Maxine Martinez and therefore linked with Itex through Jeb. That way no-one will expect you when people start pointing fingers. In fact, if it works, it might seem as if the attacks are following you. Kind of like harassment.'_

'_Thanks, voice.'_ I said, and for one I actually meant it. I felt a hand on my shoulder and instinctively spun around in a punch. Fang caught my hand, a smirk on his face. I dropped my hand and he let it go, still smirking.

"I've told you not to sneak up on me like that!" I accused, Fang only grinned more; I glared at him before turning and leaning on the railing. Fang put his arms either side of me and I had to fight to keep my breathing even.

"So why did you get up?" He asked.

"Just couldn't sleep." I said, feeling as though my heart was about to leap out of my chest. I hated lying to Fang, I always had. But I just _couldn't_ tell him how I felt, I could screw everything up between the two of us."I know you're lying, Max." He said.

"What?" I scoffed, turning around in the cage of his arms. He raised his eyebrows. "Fine, how?" I sighed. He took a hold of my hand and lifted it before slipping his fingers to my wrist- the movement making me shiver- Ahh, my traitorous pulse. I sighed.

"Come on, Max. Please tell me what's wrong; you can tell me anything, I'm not going to leave you again. I promised, didn't I?" He said and I turned back around.

"Did you mean what you said, out on the Wendy K?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly.

"Uh, Max, I said a lot of things on the Wendy K…" He said, unsure of my meaning.

"About… about me and you. You said that there'd always…" Fang cut me off.

"That there'd always be a me and you? Yeah, I meant it." He said, his voice dripping with sincerity, but still sounding somewhat weak.

"And Brigit and Lissa, where do they fit into this me and you?" I asked, still not looking Fang in the face.

"Max, I haven't spoken to either of them since I last saw them, and I only stayed with Lissa to spare her feelings, I only hung with Brigit because she was giving me advice."

"Advice?" I asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Yeah, on what to do with you, you retard." He said, and I froze.

"You…You what?"

"I called you a retard." He repeated.

"Yeah, I got that." I said sarcastically, but still appreciating him lightening the mood non-the-less.

"Why do you ask? Are you actually considering…us?" He asked, my blush was the only response he needed.

"Well, then, can I ask you something?" He asked me hesitantly. I nodded, hoping that he was planning on changing the subject.

"Why did you run? When I kissed you?" He asked, hesitantly."I was scared, I was confused about my feelings for you, scared how _us_ changing would affect the flock, scared that Itex could find out if there was an _us_ and use it against us, and annoyed at myself for not being able to accept that I lo…like you." I said, quickly changing the loved for like, '_no need to send him running for the hills yet, Max'_ I thought to myself.

"Were you going to say loved?" Fang asked, and I was surprised to hear that his voice held not even a trace of mockery.

"Yeah, I guess I was." I said with a sigh.

"Good, because I was about to say I love you, too." He said, and I found myself smiling. And then he was leaning closer, stopping inches from my face to give me the choice, I hesitated. And then we were kissing.


	6. Part: 1, Chapter: 6

_6._

I was awoken to sunlight streaming through the open balcony door, strange, hadn't we left that shut? It was then that I actually got a good look at the room around me, it was completely trashed and yet nothing appeared to be missing. I leapt out of the bed, causing Fang to awake instantly and raced towards the door, yanking it open and banging on the flock's doors.

"Guys!" I yelled, "Open the doors, now!" Neither of them opened and I began to panic. Fang appeared at my side, and with only a shared glance we each delivered a well placed kick to each of the doors, sending them flying into the destroyed rooms. I raced into the girls rooms, blood covered the floor and the furniture was broken; Nudge lay in the middle of the floor, beaten and clearly unconscious, but alive. Angel was gone, I'd known it the second that I'd stepped through the door, and, resisting the urge to cry I knelt next to Nudge; quickly waking her and helping her to her feet before the two of us headed into the guys room. Fang was alone in the room, the boys weren't there. Which could only mean one thing. Itex had Angel, The Gasman and Iggy; and we had no clue where.

"I'm so sorry, Max. I shouldn't have let them take her, I tried so hard." Nudge said before breaking down crying. I held her to me, comforting her whilst resisting the urge to join her in tears. Fang paused as the two of us fell to our knees and I rocked Nudge slowly, and then hesitantly kneeled next us, wrapping his arms around us both.

"I'm so sorry." Nudge sobbed again, and I pulled her away from me so I could look her in the eyes.

"Nudge, sweetie, none of this is your fault, okay? Everything's going to be okay, we're going to pack up and head out, and we're going to find them, okay?" I said, not quite sure who I was trying to reassure, the twelve-year-old mutant in my arms or myself. She nodded and her tears stopped slowly. Once I was sure that she was okay, I stood.

"How do you feel? You're pretty beaten up." I said, she looked at me, her beautiful brown eyes full of determination.

"I feel ready to get my family back. I feel ready for a fight. No, I feel ready to _win_ a fight." She said, and I grinned. '_That's my girl_' I thought to myself.

"Right, grab your stuff, I'll go and pack mine and Fang's stuff; Fang, stay here and watch her, then come through when the two of you are ready." I ordered before heading out of the room and across the hall. Mine and Fang's backpacks were leaning against the near the window of the hotel, I quickly grabbed our odd belonging that was lying around the room, some food and bottled water from the fridge and then my jacket. It was as I picked my jacket up that a white envelope fell from the chair. Confused, I bent down to pick it up and- seeing it was addressed to me- quickly checked for bombs before opening it. Inside there was three pictures of a huge, grey building. A building that I dimly recognised. It took me a couple of seconds to place it, all of my childhood memories had been repressed, and for good reason. It was a building similar to the school, by the name of Manticore; I'd been taken there for a while when I was ten, they ran similar tests to the school, only with me they got _a lot_ more violent. Some of the other experiments there had said- when we'd compared life stories- that they'd been treated relatively well, with jail cells instead of cages and daily food and water. Their tests weren't too bad, and I could only hope that the same would go for my flock, this was obviously the place that the voice had meant.

"Max? Are you okay? Fang and I are ready to go." I heard Nudge's voice say, I nodded, discreetly shoving the pieces of paper in my pocket. I grabbed my jacket and threw Fang's backpack and jacket at him before opening the window. Nudge took off first, then me and then finally, Fang. _'Be strong guys.'_ I thought to the missing members of my flock. '_We're coming for you.'_


	7. Part: 2, Chapter: 7

_Part Two: The Manticore Facility__…_

_7._

Have you ever been late for something, and it feels like time's dragging by and you're not getting anywhere? That's what the past three days had felt like to me. Half of our flock was missing, and if it weren't for Nudge needing to rest then I'm pretty sure that Fang and I would have gone the whole way without stopping. But finally we were there, the huge building rising up ahead of us.

'_Any ideas, voice?__'_ I asked, amazed when it actually replied.

'_Leave Nudge and Fang outside, go in and make a scene- open your wings and fly around. Make sure they can__'__t tell that you want to be captured though, they__'__ll take you to your flock. Once you__'__re in there I__'__ll help you get out.__'_ Came the almost instant reply. Choosing for once to trust it I turned to the remaining two members of the flock.

"Okay guys, you two are going to stay here, I'll go in and get myself captured. They'll take me straight to the flock and I can get them out from there." I said, Fang raised an eyebrow.

"And why not take us with you?" He asked.

"Just in case this plan doesn't work, then at least we're not all in there. Then you can try and bust us out. Okay?" I asked, Fang looked doubtful, but the determined look in my eye obviously told him that I would win the argument anyway. Sighing loudly, he nodded. I heard Nudge protest, but I was already halfway across the street.

A blast of cold air hit me as soon as I stepped into the building, and I walked into the middle of the room- people turned to stare so I covered my actions under the pretence of trying my shoelace.

'_This good enough for you, voice?__'_ I thought.

'_Yes, Max. Now go for it._' Came the answer. Nodding slightly I pulled of my jacket, whipped out my wings and launched myself into the air. A few people gasped, but no-one seemed taken aback by the fact that there was a winged girl streaking through the air. That's when the security guards began to morph, leathery back wings sprouting from their backs. _'__Let the fun begin._' I thought to myself.


	8. Part: 2, Chapter: 8

8.

The erasers were in the air almost instantly, and I swear a few of them cackled almost evilly. Two came at me from either side and I closed my wings and dropped, landing on one that was trying to fly at me from above.

'_I thought the erasers had been terminated__…'_ I thought as I avoided another load of attacks. It was then that others leapt into the air and I knew that I'd better get a move on and get myself captured before I got myself too badly injured to be enough help to anyone. I spun to the side, avoiding a kick from the left and pretending not to see the erasers to my right. He grabbed my wrist and yanked it forcefully. I both felt and heard to bone crack and resisted the urge to punch him round the face as his arms came around me. Pretending to struggle I allowed myself to be carried to the floor and restrained as I was lead through corridors, up six floors and into a (yep, you guessed it) all white hallway, the erasers lead me to a large white wall and shoved me inside. Instantly I heard three cries of "Max" and I was being hugged forcefully. Angel's arms were around my waist, Iggy was squeezing my shoulders and The Gasman was on the other side of his sister.

"Mom, I mean Max, what happened to your wrist." Angel said, I let the Mom thing slide and avoided the question all together.

"Are you guys ready to blow this joint?" I asked. I got three eager nods in return.

'_voice?__'_ I asked, '_What do I do now?__'_

'_Okay, Max. You see the window in front of you?__'_It asked. I nodded.

'_well, concentrate hard and picture the glass shattering, tearing the chicken wire apart and it__'__ll happen. Call it a new power, if you will. But I should warn you, something__'__s changed. Only two of you can escape today, and then the others next week. Chose who you set free well.__'_

'_You__'__re kidding, right? I can__'__t make one of them stay here!__'_

'_I__'__m sorry, Max. It__'__s the only way.__'_

"Angel, Gassy- I want you two out of this window the second it breaks, you hear me? If Ig and I don't get out today then there's a few things that I want you to do, okay?" I ordered, Gassy reluctantly nodded and I could see tears in Angel's eyes.

"Okay, Angel- I want you to set up a mental link between Fang and I, I don't care if there's no way to reverse it, it needs to be done. Gassy, I need you to make as many bombs as you can before the end of the week, 'kay? I want you to tell Fang that you're going to go back to the hotel. Tell them that you spent the night with my dad and that when you returned you found your rooms destroyed. Come back here in exactly a week and Ig and I will meet you on the outside. 'Kay?" The two of them nodded.

"Is that alright with you, Ig? We'll be working on things from the inside. We're going to take this place down." He nodded. I turned to the window, and, just as my voice said stared at it, picturing it shattering into thousands of pieces, taking the chicken wire with it. To my utter surprise and disbelief, the window did exactly what I pictured. Alarms started blaring, but I was concentrating on getting the two kids through the window.


	9. Part: 2, Chapter: 9

9.

I don't know if you know this, but shoving an eight year old out of a (presumably) seven story high building whilst having an ugly, mutant dog-boy latched onto your broken wrist _isn__'__t_ fun. I can tell you that for a fact, but, to my relief my two youngest charges were now free and, hopefully, homeward bound… or on their way to the hotel and the rest of the flock at least. Iggy and I? Yeah, not so much. The two of us were restrained by eight or nine burly erasers, _each._ Fun, right?

"You helped subjects 13 and 14 escape, you must be punished." An eraser snarled, the order aimed at the both of us, rather then just me. No! Iggy couldn't get punished!

"Him?" I scoffed, tapping Ig's hand lightly to let him know that I was sorry and that it was a cover. "He's blind, how the hell could he help them escape?"

"So you're saying that you got subjects 13 and 14 out yourself?" The eraser queried.

"Hell yeah, and I did a damn good job of it too." I said.

"Very well then, you will receive all of the punishment on your own." I tapped Ig's hand three times, paused, and then another two times (which meant 'Scope the place out') he gave a discrete nod before I was dragged away; headed straight towards my own personal nightmare.

'_Home sweet home._' I thought to myself, '_How great it is to be back.__'_ That was sarcasm, if you didn't get it.


	10. Part: 2, Chapter: 10

10.

Five and a half hours later (or so the clock in the experimentation room said) I was dropped back into the room with Iggy. And when I say dropped, I mean it literally, I'd previously been lying over an erasers shoulder, and now I was lying dazed on the floor. Jeez, these things obviously weren't taught manners. I struggled to my feet, swaying and almost falling to the side, Iggy caught me. 

"Jezums, Max. What the hell did they do to you? You're a mess." He said, I didn't want to tell him that they'd drugged me to make me immobile and used me as a human punching bag, so I didn't.

"I'll be fine, just gimme a second." Was my (less then) witty response. 

"Max! This isn't 'gimme a second stuff' this is 'I should be lying in a hospital bed right now' stuff!" Came his reply as he sat me in the corner of the room, fussing around me.

"Oh yeah? And where do you expect we get one of them from?" I snapped, regretting it instantly. I sighed. "Sorry Ig, I didn't meant that, it just…" I trailed off, and he nodded. 

"You should have let me take the punishment, they wouldn't have beaten you this bad if you had." He said.

"Yeah, but you know from experience that if it was both of us they'd have gone for the wings, then we'd be stuck in here for god knows how long." Was my reply, Iggy grumbled slightly but I knew he understood.

"Besides, I couldn't do that to my brother, could I?" I said, feeling strangely light-headed and tired.

"Get some sleep, Max." He said softly. "You need it." And for once I didn't fight him.

"Thanks, Ig." I said, and just about saw him nod before my eyes drifted shut and sleep claimed me.


	11. Part: 2, Chapter: 11

11.

Of course, I was awoken when whitecoats and erasers filed into the room. Both Iggy and I leapt to our feet, and I barely kept my balance. Iggy had been right, I felt awful. Not that I was going to let them know that, as far as they were concerned I was just peachy. 

"We are here to escort you to training." One of the erasers snarled. "You can co-operate or you can not, but you will be punished if you go against orders." He continued.

"Yeah, because we all know how well I co-operate." Came my sarcastic reply. Iggy shot a glare my way, telling me to shut up and go quietly. Ha! Like that was going to happen.

"Let's rephrase this, Max. You be a good little girl and come quietly or _blind boy_ gets the punishment, clear?" The eraser said, as nine others grabbed Iggy.

"Okay, we're clear." I said, and apparently I was clear of witty comebacks as I followed the whitecoats down the hall. I discretely looked at the signs along the way, there were two room labelled 'experiment holding rooms', plus the one that Iggy and I were in which was just an empty room. There were also dozens of test rooms, one of which we stopped outside of. It was just like all of the other experimentation rooms, equipment, the maze pit (a recent instalment, or so I'd been previously informed during my punishment). Of course, they knew better then to train Iggy and I together, and so dragged him off somewhere the second I was shepherded into the room. Okay, so that left me with twelve(very human) whitecoats, fourteen (very stupid) erasers, and no cameras. Seriously, how foolish can they get? So much for being a good little girl.


	12. Part: 2, Chapter: 12

12.

"Hey, Max, wake up. If I'm not mistaken, today's bust-out day." Iggy muttered as he lightly tapped my arm. Huh, we'd been here a week already? I guess time really does fly when you're having fun, and being tortured on by sicko scientists trying to play God.

"I'm up." I mumbled around my slightly swollen lip. Yeah, okay, so I suck at the whole good girl thing. I mean seriously, they tell me to run through a maze with 100 degree poles underfoot and expect _not_ to get a punch for it? They obviously haven't done their homework very well. And to be honest, the pain was almost worth seeing the look on the erasers' faces as I floored them. Almost.

'_Okay, voice, what__'__s the plan?__'_ I asked, praying for an answer. For once, my prayers came true.

'_Hello again, Max. I__'__m glad you__'__ve survived the week. Now look above you, there__'__ll be an air-shaft. You__'__ll need to use your powers to demolish it and climb up. From there you go straight to your left, take three rights, a left and then another right. This will lead you to the foyer where you entered the building. When you climb out there you__'__ll end up coming out behind a couple of trees. You should be able to make it out undetected. Then you must destroy Manticore, and everything inside it.__'_ I was momentarily stunned by the sheer length of the reply, and then what my voice had said began to sink in.

'_I can__'__t just destroy this place! There are other experiments and people in here. That would be murder.__'_ I thought back angrily.

'_Max, most of the whitecoats inside Manticore are prototype robots, and the only experiments in there that are going to live for more then a few days in relative bliss are the erasers. You__'__re right, I can__'__t deny that it__'__s not murder; but it__'__s the only way that you can keep your flock alive long enough to see them grow up. You want that, don__'__t you?__'_ For a second I didn't move, didn't talk, didn't even breathe. I couldn't. Finally, I realised that if it was what it took to make the flock safe, then I'd blow up a thousand Itex buildings, and all of the people inside of them. Selfish as it may seem, the flock were my everything, and without them that world was nothing. Therefore my main priority was keeping them alive, for as long as I could manage.

I explained that plan to Iggy, cutting off at the part where we walked right out of the front doors. He didn't need to know that I was going to commit mass murder with the bombs that he'd just supplied me with, for now, it wasn't his burden to bare.


	13. Part: 2, Chapter: 13

13.

I'll tell you something, consider it a friendly warning: crawling through the air-shafts of a building inhabited by evil scientists and wolf-people isn't fun. Like at all. I had followed the voices directions and was now sat opposite Iggy, both of us either side of the grate that held the only chance of freedom.

"Are you sure about this, Max?" Iggy asked softly, his voice to low for any passing humans/robots/erasers to hear. "It just seems to…"

"Easy? Yeah, I know. But the voice hasn't been wrong before, and maybe it's time the world gave us a break." I muttered back before carefully unscrewing the grate. The two of us jumped down silently, and headed straight for the door. To my complete and utter surprise no alarms started blaring, there was no sudden appearance of a thousand erasers or white-coats; instead, the two of us walked straight out of the door, round the side of the building and launched ourselves into the air. I glanced around us, spotting the flock hovering not far from us, they caught sight of the two of us and immediately headed over.

I knew I must look terrible, covered in blood, gore and mud; my clothes ripped and my hair matted; the now-nearly-all-white feathers of my wings (apparently the tawny was a you'll-grow-out-of-it thing) covered dyed crimson; I probably looked like the looming angel of death. But right now, that didn't matter. Because I still had one more job to do. We still weren't free. I still had to drop the bomb that was gripped in my hand. Squeezing my eyes shut I flicked the 'activate' switch, the small noise was enough to give me away as Fang and Iggy both turned to face me.

"Max," Fang said slowly, as if he was talking to a child. "What are you doing?" He eyed the bomb in my hand with caution.

"_9 seconds until activation__"_

"I'm sorry. I have to do this to keep you alive."

"_8 seconds until activation.__"_

"I had to." I whispered, and released my grip on the bomb. "I had to."

The flock and I all watched the small object drop, the distant countdown looming in my ears, it was now only 5 seconds until activation. But it wasn't the falling object that caught my eye, nor was it the flocks horrified faces, or the way the light glistened off the building below. No. It was the little girl headed straight towards the building. The building that was about to explode. I saw Fang follow my gaze and leap forward to try and stop me, but it was too late; I was already angling into a dive, closing my wings in tighter as I headed towards the ground.

"_Three seconds until activation._"


	14. Part: 2, Chapter: 14

14.

I could hear voices calling my name as I caught the young girl in my arms, sweeping her as far away from the building as I could in the short amount of time. It was to late to get out of there, but just enough to drop to the ground and cover the small girl with my wings. Just enough time to pray that my flock and this innocent little girl that I'd almost hurt would be okay. Just enough time to pray that none of the flock had followed me. And enough time to wish that I'd never dropped the bomb. Then there was a loud noise, my mind barely registered that it was the explosion behind me as my back and wings were pelted with sharp pieces of metal, glass and the occasional lump of concrete.

'_Just keep them safe. Make sure the flock are okay.__'_ I thought over and over; then darkness.

"Max!" I heard a frenzied voice say as I was shifted, then I heard more voices, and was that a young girl crying? I cracked my eyes open, ignoring the pain from the light. Please let everyone be okay, please. Please say that I hadn't killed that little girl, please. Fang was leaning over me, I was on my side (I assumed he'd rolled me over to release the girl who was now crying into Ig's shoulder.

"What the hell were you playing at? You could have been killed!" Fang growled, I coughed pathetically and pulled myself into a sitting position.

"Yes, and it would have been my own fault, just like it would have been my fault if that girl had died, Fang." I said as he reluctantly helped me to my feet. My vision swam and when I regained my senses there was a woman holding the young girl.

"Oh my lord, you saved her. Bless you! She ran off and I thought for sure that she'd be killed in the explosion! Thank you so much!" She grovelled.

"It was nothing." I responded, leaning on Fang and hating every moment of my weakness.

"I always believed in angel's, and I'm so thankful that God chose to save my baby, Emily." She cried. I peeled myself off Fang and walked unsteadily over to her, wiping a tear from her face.

"There are some people who are worth saving." I said gently, not quite knowing where the words were coming from. "Some who don't deserve to die." And without another word I whipped out my even bloodier wings and took to the skies, my flock in tow.

Of course, I only managed to fly for about half an hour before I practically fell out of the sky and into Fang's waiting arms. Forget what I said about life giving us a break; I was _never_ going to live this down. Never.


	15. Part: 2, Chapter: 15

15.

'_You need to head to Pennsylvania, Max.__'_ The voice said, I groaned and opened my eyes. I was sleeping in a tree, nothing like the fresh air to help heal fresh wounds. _'__Your next mission awaits you.__'___

'_You__'__re kidding, right? Our next mission? Can__'__t we have a few days to recover from the last one?__'_

'_I__'__m sorry, Max. But we can__'__t afford for you to rest while the world burns.__'___I found myself huffing, whilst the world burnt? The voice needed to get some new lines. I stood and stretched, wincing at the pain that came with the movement. My branch was one of the strongest on the tree, and given our lack-of-weight and good balance I had little trouble moving around on it to wake the flock.

"Up and at 'em, guys. It's a new day, get up and face it."

"But Max…" Nudge whined.

"I know sweetheart, trust me, I know. How about we stop off at a hotel tonight? Hey? Boost our spirits…and our calorie intake?" I offered, I was met by four beaming faces, even Fang had a twinkle in his eye that meant he was happy.

"Boy, am I hungry." Came a voice from behind Angel, Total- I'd almost forgotten about the little mutt.

"Get a move on then, fluff ball. We'll grab breakfast to go." There was a few excited murmurs from the flock. It was quite sad that such a small thing as breakfast could excite them so, but hey, such is life when you're a mutant freak.

It was only half an hours flight back to civilisation, and I didn't bother to check where we were; my internal compass told me we were headed in the right direction, and the voice would tell me when we reached our destination. 


	16. Part: 2, Chapter: 16

16.

I looked around my flock, finally getting a chance to check them over for injuries; I was flying above them. My top priority right now was Iggy, he was pretty messed up from all of the punishments that we'd been given at the school- he was talking quietly to Fang as the three younger kids and Total- who could now fly for limited amounts of time- played tag around them. Nudge had a few scratches on her arms, probably from flying pieces of glass; Gassy had a cut on the back of his hand and Angel had a couple of nicks on her cheekbone, but other then that the three of them were fine. Fang seemed completely unharmed, but you could never really tell with him, which he had proved several times.  
I was still pretty sore after the whole episode, the erasers at that place seriously had _no_ temper control, like at all. Luckily, we'd been through worse before, and I was managing to remain in the air just fine; an improvement since my embarrassing escapade the day before.  
"You alright? You look pretty out of it." A strong voice said from next to me, startling me from my thoughts and causing me to jump slightly (a pretty hard feat it the air, let me tell you); Fang.  
"I'm fine, I was just giving everyone a once over, I didn't really get a chance yesterday and I wanted to make sure that they were all okay." I answered honestly. Fang scoffed slightly from next to me, and I turned my head to face him, confused.  
"What?" I asked.  
"_You_ were making sure that _we_ were okay? _You're_ the one that was stuck in the school for a week, taking punishments and being experimented on, and then, when you finally get there you nearly get yourself killed in an explosion." He said, his voice holding an edge of laughter.  
"It does sound pretty wack, when you put it like that." I said, laughing slightly. "But really, I'm fine."  
"Fine?" He asked, and his eyes lost the humour that they'd held just seconds ago. "Max, if Iggy had his way you'd be lying in a hospital bed right now. You're a mess." His eyes showed me a determination that told me not to argue; so I shrugged slightly instead.  
"Rather me then them." I said softly, my eyes falling back to my flock. "I'd do it hundreds of times over, if that's what it took."  
'_And it might just be, Max.'_ The voice said, and then my brain was exploding once more in pain and I then was falling, spiralling, tumbling out of control. I heard my own screams as images began to come to mind.


	17. Part: 2, Chapter: 17

17.

_I was stood in the middle of a street, rubble surrounded me and the remaining building were burning. Flames leapt high from all around me, and I could hear the terrible screams of those that were still inside, and see the dead bodies of those the fire had already reached. 'Is this what the voice means when it says that the world is burning?' I thought to myself, and then something caught my eye. Movement.  
A small girl, no older then three or four, was stumbling through the rubble, tripping over pieces of concrete, glass and the bodies of the fallen. I rushed over to help her, scooping her up gently. She clung to me, and lifted her face to see me. I was shocked into silence. Her eyes were an exact replica of my own, but her hair was raven-black, her skin tone more tanned then mine; just like Fang's. 'Who is this girl?' I wondered.  
"What's your name sweetie?" I asked, as I made my way across the rubble, headed towards the safety of the street that I'd left behind.  
"My name's Raven." She said, her voice holding an edge of innocence that made her seem even younger and more vulnerable.  
"Where's Cole? And Tori and Kherron?" She asked, as she looked around panicky.  
"There's more of you?" I asked, she nodded and there was a fluttering noise as she spread her wings.  
"They're my brothers and sister, please find them, please." She said, tears falling down her face.  
"I will do, sweetie." I told her, "You see that road over there?" I asked, the young girl nodded. "I want you to fly over there and wait for me, okay?" She nodded and took off into a sky the colour of ash, filled with smoke and the stench of the death. What was this place? Was it the end of the world? And if so, why was I here?_

My eyes shot open and I bolted upright, coughing for all I was worth, but thankfully not puking. I fell backwards, not having the strength to hold myself up, and wiry, rock hard arms caught me, Fang. _'Jeez, what the hell was that dream about? Is Raven real?'_ I thought as I blinked my eyes open. We were once again in a clearing, Fang was leaning over me, barely visible against the night sky behind him.  
Without a word, he gently helped me into a more dignified sitting position.  
"Are you alright?" He asked, I nodded slightly.  
"I just had a strange dream when I was out, is all." I said, hating how weak my voice sounded.  
"A strange dream?" Fang asked softly, and then. "Max, you were practically having a fit back there. You scared the hell outta me." He said, as I leant against him. We sat in silence for a moment, before my eyes began drifting shut.  
"That's right, Max." Fang said softly. "Go to sleep, you could do with some rest." And so I slept.


	18. Part: 2, Chapter: 18

18.

When I awoke the next morning, I did so _very_ quickly. I was half lying on something hard, yet soft at the same time, and there was a bustling noise coming from my left. My eyes shot open, only to see that everything was okay. Nudge, The Gasman, Angel and Total were lying a few feet away, tangled in a ball of arms and legs; Iggy was the source of the bustling noise, he was sorting out food from his and Fang's backpacks. Speaking of Fang, where was he? I sat up slowly and immediately began blushing. Remember that hard, yet soft thing that I'd been lying on? Yeah, that would be _Fang_. I must of rolled so that my head and shoulders were resting on his chest during the night.  
"Have a nice sleep?" Iggy asked, mockingly. I threw a stone at his head and he dodged it, just in time to be hit in the head with a second stone; he sobered up almost instantly after that.  
"Hey!" He cried, leaping for me, I moved at the last second and he tripped over a still sleeping Fang, rolled for a few feet and ended up joining the kids in a bundle of arms and legs. Both Fang and the others awoke instantly, confused and dazed. There was brief pause as they all tried to piece together what had just happened and then all seven of us were laughing.  
It felt good to laugh, I hadn't done it really since we were with mom, before we'd taken off from the Lerner school or whatever it was called. I could still remember the shocked look of the people watching the grand opening as we took off, in fact, it matched the flocks earlier expressions earlier and I found myself laughing harder, tears beginning to form in my eyes. Even Fang was laughing, not just chuckling, or smirking- right out laughing.  
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime we finally sobered up slightly, Iggy returned to his work with the breakfast and the flock set about packing their stuff. It was only then that I realised that I'd broken my promise, we'd never stayed in the hotel. Well, rather late then never, right? I headed over to Fang, who was almost glowing with happiness.  
"So where exactly are we?" I asked, as I helped him gather his- albeit limited- stuff.  
"Right on the border of Pennsylvania." He said, I nodded and then stopped for a second. I'd never mentioned heading to Pennsylvania, so how had he known. He grinned at my expression and then pointed to Angel, who was stood a couple of meters away, humming to herself as she equipped Total with his seeing-eye dog jacket, collar and lead; he wore it every day now, just on the off chance that we popped by civilisation.  
"Alright guys," I announced to the group, and they all turned to face me. "Hows about we find us that hotel?"


	19. Part: 2, Chapter: 19

19.

It wasn't long before we reached Pennsylvania, we kept flying until the voice told me to stop and land behind (yet another) obnoxiously large and impressive looking hotel. The Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel, cool name, huh?  
"We're seriously staying here?" Nudge asked, a huge grin on her face, and I nodded in response. "Awesome! I fell so important when I stay in big fancy hotels, like a model or something." I smiled at her softly.  
"You are a model, Nudge. Remember?" I said, recalling the photo shoot, her eyes lit up and she grinned, and then her grin faded slightly.  
"But Max, models are like nearly as gorgeous as you; I'm not that pretty." My head whipped around and I bent over slightly (not much, mind) to talk to her eye to eye.  
"Nudge, I don't know why you think you're not pretty, but I can assure you that you are completely and utterly wrong. You're completely stunning, didn't you wonder why loads of people keep staring at you?" I asked. She shook her head slightly.  
"I thought that they were all laughing at me, 'cause I'm all dirty and stuff."  
"No-one in their right minds would laugh at you, Nudge. It proves just how amazing you are that you can walk around in ripped and blood-soaked clothes, be covered in dirt, and still have every guy in the vicinity drooling over you." I said with a smile, realising that the flock had gone on ahead of us; to give Nudge some privacy I guessed. She smiled.  
"Thanks, Max." She said as I straightened and the two of us began to walk.  
"You're more then welcome, Nudge. You should know by now that I'm _always_ here to talk to, yeah?" Nudge nodded and then the two of us stepped into the lobby of the hotel.  
'_Here we go again.'_ I thought to myself, as the flock situated themselves on the seats, Fang walking with me to the front desk.  
'_Yes, here you go again, Max. You'll have reservations under the same name, and remember, you just barely escaped a bomb going off, you were at work with your father that day. Use your infamous acting skills, Max.'  
_I wasn't sure if the voice was being sarcastic or not, it was hard to tell with the impassive voice.  
"Excuse me," I said to the guy at the desk, making my voice said a lot more timid then usual, Fang seemed surprised, but didn't let it go. "We… we have reservations here; Maxine Martinez and Nick Ride." The guy at the counter nodded and then gave us a quick look over.  
"I heard you came straight over from the bombing, are you kids alright? Can I get you anything." The guy said, honest concern in his voice.  
"No thank you, we just really want to get into our rooms, sleep and forget the whole thing." I said, he nodded and handed over some keys.  
"Top floor." I nodded slightly and headed back over to the flock. Angel looked ready to fall asleep right then and there, so I scooped her up; wincing as I jostled my probably broken ribs. Together the seven of us headed towards the elevator, I was to tired for even my claustrophobia to kick in and, after looking at my drooping eyelids, Fang removed Angel from my arms, handed her to Iggy and grabbed the door key from the blind mutant.  
As the elevator doors opened he wrapped an arm around my waist and I leant on him, to tired to care, my thoughts were focused on the bed that was waiting for me, and the blissful realms of sleep. Fang opened the door to the suite and let us in without bother, I pulled myself away from him, walked over to the bed and flopped onto it on my back; falling asleep straight away.


	20. Part: 2, Chapter: 20

20.

When I awoke I realised several things at once, one, I was under the covers and I'd fallen asleep on top of them; two, I was missing my shoes, backpack, hoodie and windbreaker and three, someone was cooking breakfast, and it smelled delicious. I blinked my eyes open and looked around the room, through the open bedroom door I could see Fang and Iggy stood in the kitchen, Fang assisting Iggy with the cooking as they talked, the other four were either stretched out on a couch or curled up in an armchair, watching a cartoon on the TV. I turned my head to look at the clock, 7 AM. Huh, I'd slept through an entire evening and night, a personal record. I sat up pretty fast, giving myself head rush and when the world stopped spinning Fang was stood in the doorway, he chucked me my backpack and nodded to a door on the side of the bedroom. The bathroom, he's known what I would want before even I had consciously registered. I grinned, caught my backpack, kissed him lightly on the cheek- surprising even myself- before heading to the bathroom, a blush staining my pink cheeks. I had a suspicion that my blush wasn't the only thing staining my cheeks right now, 'cause I felt _incredibly_ grimy.  
I emerged from the bathroom feeling physically awake and refreshed and mentally confused. During my shower I'd begun to wonder what exactly was going on with Fang and I at the moment.  
'_So what, we just admit that we love each other, kiss and then act like it never happened?'_ I thought to myself as I sat on my seat at the table, almost instantly Angel choked on her scrambled eggs and her eyes flew to me, I shook my head rapidly as Iggy thumped her on the back and thankfully she didn't say anything.  
_'That's so cool Max, now you can be like the flock's real parents!'_ She said.  
'_Angel! No-'_ But it was to late, I really needed to discuss the moral ethics of mind reading with the girl, and, as for Fang? Well, the two of us really needed to talk.


	21. Part: 2, Chapter: 21

21.

Angel was easy enough to lecture, a couple of thoughts and all was good; Fang, however, was a little harder. I'd pulled him out onto the balcony of our room, away from the others and now I couldn't find the words, at all.  
"So you wanted to talk about…us?" He guessed, and I nodded.  
"It's just, well, what exactly are _we_?" I asked, he grinned.  
"Well, I'm happy to be your boyfriend if you'll be my girlfriend…" He said, as he placed his arms either side of me on the balcony that I was leaning against and leant closer.  
"And the flock? Shall we… tell them?." I asked, my breath becoming more and more laboured the closer he got.  
"Let them find out on their own." He said, and then we were kissing. We'd only been kissing for a few moments before I heard two 'Aww's' an 'Ew, gross' and laughter.  
"Well I guess they found out earlier then expected." Fang said, causing me to laugh slightly. He kissed me lightly on the lips and then pushed off the balcony, socked Iggy one in the shoulder and headed into the bathroom.


	22. Part: 2, Chapter: 22

22.

The flock and I decided that we should stay at the hotel for one more night, before I even _attempted_ to contact my voice. Surely we deserved a rest after what we'd just been through, right? Well, that's what we thought, but, apparently the voice had other ideas.

_'Max, you have to get a move on! There's another school here, and they're almost as advanced as Manticore. They need to be stopped!'_

It lectured as I sat watching the television with the others.

_'Can't we just have a break for once? All we're asking is for one night, and then we'll get right on it first thing tomorrow morning.'_

_'Max, you have two choices. Either you learn what you'll need quickly now- which will be incredibly painful- or you can set on the mission now, which will save you a lot of pain, and me a lot of effort. Your choice.'_

_"I choose to learn now, and rest for tonight.'_

I said without hesitation, the flock needed their rest. And then the pain came; blinding, searing pain that made me want to beg for death- which, of course, I didn't. I fell sideways off the sofa that I was sharing with Fang, and if it weren't for his mutant speed, then I'd have hit the floor pretty hard.

"Max? Max can you hear me?" Fang said, his voice worried.

"She can, Fang." Came Angel's voice, and then. "Wait, I think she chose this…" Angel trailed off as I screamed a mental reprimand at her.

_'They don't need to know that, Angel.'_ I told her, my mental voice somehow stern despite the fact that I was holding back agonised yells.

Images flew past my eyes, floor plans and vent systems that I memorised instantly, and then the pain became too much, and I was fading out of reality.


	23. Part: 2, Chapter: 23

23.

_Have you ever had that really strong sense of déjà vu? Well I was having it right now. I was walking through a surprisingly clear street, that is, it was a clear street when you took into consideration the rubble that lay all around. I was stood, once again, in the ashen remains of New York, stood beneath a burgundy sky, filled with charcoal clouds. _

_"Mommy?" A familiar, scared sounding voice said from behind me; Raven. I turned quickly._

_"No, sorry, sweetie. But I am here to help… if I can." I said softly, her small brow creased._

_"But you are mommy!" She said, frowning as tears began to fall down her face._

_"Me?" I asked, confused. The young girl nodded._

_"Jeb said that Max, mommy and Fang, daddy." She said with a smile, and then. "He said I had to bring you here, and warn you." Her crying grew worse, and I stepped forward to scoop her up._

_"He said that if I didn't then the others would die, that we'd all die. He said that you need to save me and the others. That you'd need me and that my powers would help."_

_"Powers?" I asked her, she nodded, smiling slightly._

_"Yeah! I can talk to people when they're not awake, and Jeb says I can make 'illusions' with my mind." Was her answer. I nodded, slightly, finally, something was making sense. Raven's powers could certainly help us save the world. Her head turned to see something that I couldn't see and then smiled at me slightly before saying:_

_"I have to go, the whitecoats want me for experiments, and they get mad when I use my powers." She said, I lightly kissed her on the forehead._

_"I will save you, Raven. I promise." I said to her, and she nodded and then everything turned black once more._


	24. Part: 2, Chapter: 24

24.

The sound of a TV filtered through my senses, the noise was quiet, and then voices reached my ears.

"Do you think that she'll be okay?" I heard Gassy say.

"She'll be fine." Fang answered curtly, and I felt his soft hand on my cheek.

"I don't know, Fang." Nudge said, "I've never heard anyone scream like that before."

My eyes flickered open, and met Fang's liquid chocolate orbs.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, I nodded slightly- I only really had a _slight_ headache- and forced myself to sit up. The flock were gathered around me, their faces plastered with concern.

"I'm fine, really guys." I said, and then, when no-one looked reassured, I tried a different tactic.

"So, how about we head to the mall, get ourselves some clothes that aren't too small, or covered in grime and blood and some bathers, and then Angel can work us some telepath-magic and we'll head down to the pool?" I asked, Gassy, Nudge and Angel whooped with joy and even Iggy and Fang grinned a little bit.

Ten minutes later and we were landing in a secluded alley by the mall, Angel- the little cutie that she is- took a hold of one of my hands, and, to my utter surprise, Fang clasped my hand in his own and slung his arm around my shoulders, playing with my fingers. I smiled at him slightly, a small smile on my face and he grinned back at me. Nudge was walking- no, correction _skipping- _in front of the three of us, and Iggy and The Gasman were in front of her, talking in hushed tones. I was tempted to bust them and whatever bomb they were planning, but there bombs always seemed to save us, so maybe I shouldn't be so uptight about them?

Sighing slightly, and dreading what was about to follow, I followed the three of them into the mall. The blast of air-conditioning hit me as soon as I stepped through the door and I relaxed slightly. For all I cared, erasers could have attacked right then and there, and at least I would have been cool. Yup, that's me, Maximum Ride- the optimist.


	25. Part: 2, Chapter 25

25.

Needless to say, I was sincerely tempted to throw myself in the air for the entire _two hours_ that we were stuck in that mall. Seriously, whose idea was it to make shops so small that you practically had to breathe in to fit between the racks?  
Fortunately, we managed to go the entire trip without incident- other then Iggy accidentally banging into a sales assistant and sending him, and four racks of clothes, to the floor. The flight back to the hotel was pretty relaxed, with the Pennsylvania sun bearing down on us no-one could really be bothered to do any extreme tricks. When we finally arrived back at the hotel we all banded off to get dressed in our costumes, piling light clothes on over the top for the journey to the pool. Angel worked her mind-magic, and then we were home free. Of course, the first thing that The Gasman did was to leap into the air (using his wings) fly into the middle of the pool and bomb, and let me tell you, Nudge and Angel were less then impressed when he got them wet. Before long a full out water tag game was on, and for once, we were all happy.


	26. Part: 2, Chapter: 26

**(A/N Sorry for the wait, guys, and sorry that it's a short one; there should be another one today, as well. Just thought I'd let you know that I'm currently writing chapter 40, and the chapters get longer from here on in, because the main plot develops, and more side-plots get thrown in. And I've had alot of reasons not to post, including breaking up with my boyfriend, amungst other things! On another note, Wooo! 50 reviews! I love you guys, and reviews always make me happy! Oh, and before I forg****et, I'll be editing the other chapters, to hopefully make them all longer, but I'll get back to you guys on that :D -Nix xXx)**

26.

Of course, in our lives, happiness only lasts so long, and then next morning we were awake bright and early and ready to face Itex. I knew that the little kids were already tired of _looking_ for trouble, but I had a feeling that there was a lot more where that was coming from, and I wouldn't stop until every single Itex branch was destroyed. I wouldn't let them torture more little kids like they had the flock. And besides, even if there was only the smallest chance that Raven and her three siblings really existed, I was going to look for them and, if they truly did exist, I _would_ save them. Even if they weren't my kids, they didn't deserve to spend their young lives- or any of them- in a cage.  
It was then that it dawned on me; if Raven really was our daughter, and the other three were her siblings, then were they ours as well? I wasn't sure, and to be fair, I'd treat them as if they were, I was sure of it. My thoughts started to drift to my own mom, maybe, after this mission we could make base-camp at her house? And then, when this was all over, we could live with her. That is, if the flock didn't want to find their own parents, I mean, I couldn't begrudge them that.  
But would I be able to let them go? If they wanted to, I mean. Or would I be too selfish? Would I not let them leave? And besides, would they still want the flock in their lives or would they prefer a clean break? I wasn't sure.  
"Max," Angel's voice came from above, I tilted my head up to face her.  
"Yes sweetie?" I asked, she smiled slightly.  
"The flock don't want to find their parents. We don't need to. For me, Nudge and Gassy you and Fang are our parents, and Iggy wouldn't ever leave you- your like an older little sister to him." She said softly, and I smiled at her.  
"Thanks, Angel." I said, and she nodded before flying away. '_That's my girl._' I thought to myself, and then I caught sight of the building below us.  
_'Welcome to hell.'_ I thought to myself.


	27. Part: 2, Chapter: 27

**(Another short one, basically all it does is introduce you into the action, and please, no MR5 spoilers in reviews, it doesn't come out 'till the 2nd of April in good ol' England)**

27.

The plan was clear, Fang and I were going to go inside and have a look around, gather the information that we could, and then get back out. And then, bombs away. Of course, I was pretty sure that it wasn't going to go as smoothly as that; I was still pretty beat up, and I knew that I probably wouldn't be as resilient as normal in a fight; not for lack of trying, of course. Nonetheless, the flock stayed hovering patiently, in tight formation, just in case, and Fang and I descended.  
The building itself was shaped like an 'L' leading into an 'E' and Fang and I chose to land on the roof of the long edge of the 'E'. I quickly found the entrance to the memories ventilation plans, and then we were off.  
Finding the first (of two) computer labs wasn't hard, and the two of us dropped down and I guarded the door whilst Fang printed off any documents that looked of interest before wiping the computers- just in case. The papers themselves he stuck in a satchel that I'd thought to buy at the mall. Once he'd accomplished his job the two of us were off again.  
Of course, everything had gone swimmingly so far, and so it was sod's law that when we dropped into the second lab, alarms began to blare. Apparently, this one had CCTV, and someone had realised that it was unusual for kids with wings to be printing out hundreds of pages of official documents. We managed to barricade the door as best as we could whilst the documents spewed out of the printer, and the last one flew out almost exactly as erasers burst the door open. Fang just had time to stuff it in his satchel, and then we were fighting. Game on.


	28. Part: 2, Chapter: 28

**(A/N It's a little bit longer then the others, but still shorter then the ones to come... Hope you enjoy -Nix xXx)**

28.

Fang and I were about twenty minutes into the fight, and already sporting a few heavy bruises- and, on my behalf, a re-broken rib- when I noticed that the window in the room hadn't been covered with chicken wire like the rest. Meaning being? It was an easy smash-through-the-window-and-fly-away exit, at least, it would be if we could time it right.  
Fang, reading my mind as always managed to launch an unconscious eraser out of the window, and the call of the alarm grew louder.  
The fight continued, and Fang and I both steadily made our way towards the windows. With only a quick glance in my direction Fang launched himself out of the window, and I was right behind him. The two of us flew up, followed by a few erasers, and my two pyros dropped the bombs.  
Let me tell you, when someone drops a bomb that was specifically designed to blow up an illegal facility; you hightail it out of there, because that thing will cause a mighty fine explosion. Luckily, Fang and I knew this and got out of the way. The erasers? Not so lucky. In fact, I think I was actually wearing most of one of them, major gross out right there for you. Reason number 100 why you _don't_ want to be an avian-human experiment: serious gore issues.

Of course, Iggy and The Gasman didn't see it like that, and when we coasted level with them they were slapping a high five, I shook my head, grinning.

"Max, are you okay? That looked really close! And the erasers… ew! What is that, is that blood? Is it yours? Are you bleeding?" She asked, I held up a hand to silence her, and she did so blushing.

"Yes, Nudge, that's blood, no Nudge, it's not mine at least, most of it belongs to the erasers, and no, I'm not bleeding, well at least- not that I'm aware of." I answered, and the young girl seemed relieved. There was silence for a brief second, as I studied Nudge's face, and then I began to laugh- or, more accurately, giggle. The flock turned to me, bemused, and then, one after one, they began to laugh too- even Fang.

Once our laughing fit was over, the seven of us decided to head back to the town where our hotel had been. I glanced over at Total- who had his head poking out of Nudge's backpack; he'd been quiet lately, my guess was that he was missing Akila.

'_Hey, voice, do you think that we could head over to mom's for a bit? I mean a week or so wouldn't hurt, right?'_ I asked. For a moment I thought that it wasn't going to reply, and then the reply came.

'_You're right, a week or so couldn't hurt, Max. And your flock could do with the familiarity.'_ I grinned and turned to face the flock.

"Heads up guys, we're headed to mom's." I said, and my response was animated cheers that made my heart glow and my grin grow wider as I surveyed them; all of them- Fang included, strangely- were smiling and laughing. And I was glad that, once again, I'd made them happy- it was times like these that made it all worth it. All the running, screaming, fighting and hurt- it was all worth it, just to see the smiles on their faces.


	29. Part: 2, Chapter: 29

29.

Obviously, the fly from Pennsylvania to Arizona took more then a day; and it was due to this that the flock and I found ourselves camping in a clearing in a part of the vast forest that we'd spotted from the air. It was wide enough to take off both from a run and standing, which would certainly come in handy now if we were attacked.

Iggy had quickly made a fire, and the three younger members of the flock were sleeping far enough away as to not overheat, but close enough that they didn't get cold. Clever little mutants. Iggy was sat on one side of the fire, and Fang and I on the other- Fang had an arm wrapped around my shoulders and I was leaning against him. It just felt so… natural.

"Max," Iggy said, and paused before continuing. "Are you sure that we're doing the right thing? With Itex I mean?" There was a soft silence as I chose my words.

"Truthfully, I'm not sure- but I'm leaning towards yes; Itex need to be stopped." I said softly.

"I guess so." He said, and then. "Well, I'm going to head off to bed, wake me for third."

The three of us stacked fists, and Iggy headed over to lie down not far from the others. I watched him as he lay down, and sighed slightly- Fang's arm tightened around me and he turned to face me better.

"What's wrong" He asked, I smiled slightly.

"You know what, Fang? For the first time in a long time, I think that I can _truthfully_ say that the answer is nothing." I said, flashing him a smile, which I returned. Maybe my life was finally taking a turn for the better? Actually, no. My life never seemed to take a turn for the better, in fact, the only turns that it got were usually confusing ones that ended in something bad; and yet I wouldn't have it any other way. I loved my flock, my life, and the way that we lived. I loved the thrill of knowing that, in the end, we were going to pull through, that we were going to win. Because that's what we were good at, that's what we did. The indescribable, indestructible and completely irreplaceable flock. Live together, die together.


	30. Part: 3, Chapter: 30

__

Part Three: Home, sweet home.

30.

The next morning the flock and I set off bright and early, and when lunch time began to dawn, so did the realisation that we were only minutes away from home. To my utter surprise, I found that there seemed to be a flock of angry hawks zooming around inside my stomach; I was _nervous_! It wasn't long before the house came into view, and the flock began to whoop and cheer, they were happy to be home, that much was clear. With the midday sun shining on them, making the dirt on their faces look like nothing more then a healthy tan, they actually looked like normal kids; except, you know, with 6-15 foot wings (or rather, that was the measurement of their wing_span_). The six of us landed in the back garden, where no-one could see from the house, and, just in case mom had visitors, we hid our wings inside our windbreakers.

I walked forward and pushed open the door, it creaked slightly.

"Mom?" I called, "Mom, are you home?" There was a pause, and then, seconds later Mom came running into the kitchen; her hair was ruffled, and she was closely followed by a man- who, in apparent haste, had buttoned his shirt wrong. Resisting the urge to laugh, I simply raised an eyebrow.

"Bad time?" I asked, and Fang stepped closer to me, his hand holding my own, a devious glint in his eye.

"Yeah, Max; maybe we should come back later, looks like she's _busy_." He said, smirking slightly; Mom turned scarlet, as the younger members of the flock looked on curious and confused.

"N…no, not at all." Mom stammered, clinging to the last few scraps of her composure, and, by the looks of the things, resisting the urge to hightail it out of there; the man, whose name I still didn't know, was looking increasingly uncomfortable, and, he too was an amusing shade of red.

"You going to introduce us, mom?" I asked

"Guys, this is John; John, this is Max, my daughter and mine and Jeb's adopted kids, Nick, Jeff, Krystal, Zach and Angela. They live with Jeb in Colorado, and have come for a visit."

"That's an awful long way to come, just for a visit." John said, seemingly confused.

"Yeah, but Je…dad's been called away on business, an emergency at work, some last minute thing and so we're staying here for a week or so." I said, mom nodded hesitantly, and John seemed to buy it, as he grinned at me.

"Well, then, kids. It's nice to meet you, I hope to be seeing a lot more of you." He grinned. _'Oh, boy.'_ I thought to myself '_This is going to be fun._' That's sarcasm, people.


	31. Part: 3, Chapter: 31

31.

"He's living with you!" I hissed at my mom, the two of us were upstairs, in hers- and apparently John's- room.

"I'm sorry, Max. I thought that I'd have time to warn you. He moved in a little over a month ago." She said back softly, her eyes pleading.

"Okay, we can cope, it's just one more person." I sighed, but Mom hesitated.

"It is just one person, right?" I asked.

"Well, there's John, and his two sons- Jordan and Lewis- and his daughter, Mariah." She said.

"There's four of them?" I hissed, before re-gaining my composure once more.

"You know what? That's fine. We'll manage." I said, and then added as an after thought.

"Wait, what will the sleeping arrangements be?" I asked.

"Well, two of you can go in with Ella and Mariah, two of you in with Jordan and Lewis, and then two of you in the spare. I'll let you decide who's going where." I nodded, and, after a quick glance back, I headed out of the room… only to collide with Fang in the process. The two of us tumbled to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs, landing hard- Fang on top of me. '_Great. Now I'm blushing.'_ I thought to myself. I began the strenuous process of detangling myself from Fang, but, by the look of things, he wasn't exactly thinking about moving- oh, no. In fact, when I tried to push him off me- which is a lot harder then it sounds when he's trying to resist- he leant down and kissed me. I lost all train of thought, I completely forgot that the two of us were lying on the floor, in the hallway outside mom's room where anyone could see us. Because this, right here, this was bliss.

That is, of course, until someone rudely interrupted by clearing their throat. _'Caught'_ I thought to myself as Fang and I pulled apart sharply, Fang leaping to his feet and helping me up. John was stood on one side of us, and Mom on the other, both of them frowning. Great.

"Max, Nick; in there." Mom said sternly, and let me tell you, she was _definitely_ where I got my intimidating look from. Of course, neither of us moved, we both had issued with taking orders, and it was then that John decided to play the father figure.

"You heard your mother, now." He spat, and, in doing so, he also sounded rather like a whitecoat. Which, in turn, sent me on hyper alert, and Fang began growling- a crude, animalistic sound that rippled through his body.

Mom started, and almost tripped backwards.

"Nick, chill." I said softly, though we both knew that I was fighting strongly to hold back a growl of my own, after a brief second- where Fang didn't stop growling, and in fact, pushed me behind him gently and protectively- mom realised her 'boyfriends' mistake.

"Oh, crud. Guys, It's okay, he didn't mean anything. I promise, you're safe here." She said softly, backing up just a little back, kind of like you'd do with a frightened puppy.

"Fang, seriously." I said, too low for John and mom to hear, but the mutant cut off his growling, though he clearly showed no intentions of letting me past- or, in fact, anywhere near John.

A couple of months ago I would have been mad, but right now I recognised the animalistic need to protect one's mate; it was something that I knew all to well, and if the positions were reversed then I'd be exactly the same. Fang didn't let out of his protective position, slightly crouched, ready to spring- eyes trained on John.

"John, sweetie, I think it'd be best if you backed up a few steps." Mom said softly, I could see the questions on his tongue, but he stepped back silently, dropping his gaze to show that he was submitting- it would appear that he, too, worked with animals. Fang relaxed slightly, and I sighed with relief, that could have been incredibly nasty; it wasn't often that an animalistic instinct was so strong that it just took over like that, and it often ended messy. I'd only ever seen it once before, when Ari had gone for me at the beach, and Fang had leapt for him- all conscious thoughts erased, just the need to eliminate the threat. Let me tell you, Fang was scary at the best of times- to most people, at least- and for a moment, _I'd _been scared of him, something that had never happened before.

"Fang, are we cool, now?" Mom asked slowly.

"Not really." Fang said softly, "If he _ever_ talks to Max like that again, then I might not be able to stop myself hurting him. It's nothing personal, though John. Instinct, I guess." He said, and mom nodded slightly.

"Alright then, you two, I suggest you go _out_ for a bit, calm down and then come back. John, you and I need to talk."


	32. Part: 3, Chapter: 32

**(A/N Guys, please pay attention to this, I'm going to be clearing something up here. **

**Ruko777: I can assure you that everything I write I do with both the main plot, and all of the side plots in mind; Max and Fang becoming like Dr M and John is not part of _any _of my plans. Dr M and John's relationship is just a sub-plot that comes into play later, but is essential for the main plot to work; as is Max fighting with Mariah. I'm sorry if it's made anyone consider stopping reading my story, I really wouldn't like that. Please, if anyone has any concerns, let me know. **

**On another note, I'd like to thank ShadowAmunet for constant reviews that always make me smile. Thankyou everyone who has reviewed, _ever,_ you guys make writing worth while. Peace out, Nix xXx)**

32.

Fang and I had left the house over an hour ago, we'd flown for about three quarters of an hour, and then begun to walk- still headed away from the house where we were currently staying. Some of it we'd talked, some of it- like now- had been a relaxed silence, both of us appreciating the time to ourselves, hands laced tightly together.

"So, what do you reckon mom's going to say when we get home?" I asked, Fang was silent a moment, before speaking.

"I dunno, the change in the relationship will probably have her stumped, but, hey."

"I'm not so convinced; I mean, the flock seemed to know that it was coming- and aren't parents supposed to sense this or something?" I said, and Fang began to laugh.

"Sense it?" He laughed, I paused for a second before beginning to laugh, leaning against him and hitting his chest.

"You know what I mean." I said, and he nodded. Suddenly I hit him lightly on the arm and leapt into the air, calling a quick.

"You're it." Behind me, like the mature Avian-American that I am.

Fang and I sped between trees and bushes and then zipped through the open air, spiralling and corkscrewing all the way back to the forest outside of mom's house. I landed ahead of Fang, and quickly pulled my hoodie over my head before taking off in a run. Fang, being bigger and stronger, was faster then me in an outright sprint, but I was smaller and more agile, making it easier for me to weave in between the trees. As we neared the edge of the forest it was neck-and-neck, both of us putting on a final burst of speed… and then Fang tripped, grabbed my arm, and sent us tumbling to the floor and rolling out of the woods, both of us laughing. Once again, we landed with Fang positioned on top of me- we seemed to be making a habit of it- and the two of us were trying to catch our breath, and, Fang- who's entire weight was balanced on his hands- slipped on the un-even Arizona earth and he barely caught himself before squashing me, sending me into a fresh round of giggles. That is, until the two of us realised that we weren't alone.

Three teenagers- who I figured were John's previously mentioned children- Nudge, Angel and Ella were sat out in the garden- all of them regarding us wit surprised looks on their faces.

"Did Max seriously just _giggle_?" Nudge asked, looking seriously shocked, and I blushed as Fang and I detangled ourselves once more.

"Uh, sorry, guys. We didn't expect you to be out here and Fang tripped, and, yeah…" I trailed off lamely, and Angel giggled slightly.

_'Thanks for your support there, Angel.'_

I thought to the young girl, she flashed me a, well, angelic smile. I shoved myself roughly to my feet and kicked Fang- who was still lying on the ground, a grin on his face- lightly in the ribs before heading over to the small group of girls.

"Hey, I'm Max." I said, holding out a hand for the eldest- or so I presumed- of the two guys.

"Hey, I'm Jordan." He said, and Fang made an annoyed sound from behind me, I ignored it and turned to the other brother.

"Lewis." He said with a small smile, and then it was Mariah's turn. I turned to face her, and was about to hold out my hand when she stood and left.

"Huh." I muttered.

"Don't mind Mariah. She's a serious pain in the neck; you'll get used to it, mind." Jordan said, and I nodded before looking around; suddenly registering who exactly it was that we were missing. Iggy and The Gasman, possibly the two worst people to leave to their own devices- and when I say devices, I mean it literally.

"Where's Zach and Jeff?" Fang asked from behind me, suddenly realising what I had, too.

"They're in their room, they said something about a school project?" Jordan said softly, smiling.

"School project my…" I trailed off, noting that there were kids present and that cussing wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"Zach, Jeff, get your butts down here, now. And bring the bombs with you." I called, knowing that they'd hear me clearly from their open bedroom window.

"Aw, man, Max." I heard Gassy mutter, but within minutes the two of them were downstairs.

"Bombs?" I asked, catching the confused looks on John's kids' faces. Iggy sighed, and him and Gassy handed over two bombs that were on the large scale, by their standards at least.

"And the rest." I sighed, and they forked over about ten spherical bombs. I looked at Fang before throwing him five and placing the two larger bombs on the floor.

"What's the second delay?" I asked Ig, and, looking confused, he answered hesitantly.

"Uh, five seconds." I nodded at Fang and the two of us both pressed the activation button on one of the bombs before hurling it into the air over the woods with mutant strength and amazing accuracy. And let me tell you, they were some pretty cool bombs. Unfortunately, mom disagreed.


	33. Part: 3, Chapter 33

33.

"What were you thinking of? Someone could have gotten hurt!" Mom screeched, and I resisted the urge to laugh, as I knew Fang was, too.

"Relax, mom, we knew what we were doing." I answered calmly.

"Relax?" She near-yelled. "You were launching _bombs_ into the air without a second thought, how can I _relax_?"

"Come on, Dr M. It's not like we were going to miss, and besides, it wouldn't be the first explosion that's gone wrong, right guys?" Fang asked. Word of warning: if you ever launch a bomb into the air, and get caught by your parent or parents, don't repeat what Fang just said. Apparently, that's not the right answer, _or_ the right attitude.

"Mom, what did you want us to do?" I asked reasonably. "Leave them around to be accidentally set off? Call in the bomb disposal unit?"

"Well…you could off…" Mom said, but it was evident that we'd won this one. "Just don't let me catch you again."

"We won't." I said, and then added under my breath. "We'll do it further away, next time." The flock snickered, and, when mom turned to glare at me I simply put on my best 'Who, me?' expression. Huh, what can I say? I guess easy living isn't for me.

"Max, can we all put a film on?" Angel asked, and, sighing all the while, I agreed to forcing the entire flock to watch 'The Little Mermaid', now let me tell you now, that was _fun_.


	34. Part: 3, Chapter 34

34.

"Max!" Ella screamed as she hurled herself through the front door and barrelled straight into me. Unfortunately she caught me off guard and both of us would have gone barrelling backwards if it weren't for Fang; he caught me (being the closest to him) lightly, and set both of us on our feet.

"Hey, Ella." I answered laughingly, and she squeezed me.

"I missed you, like, so much!" She practically squealed in my sensitive ears, and I resisted the urge to wince.

"Ella, sensitive ears, remember?" I asked, and she nodded, apologetically before stepping back and releasing me, hugging the rest of the flock with the same level of enthusiasm, with the exception of Fang. I looked around and saw that mom was stood in the doorway, smiling and wiping her hands on a tea towel.

"Dinner in ten, I hope you're hungry." She stated, there was a moments pause.

"When are we not hungry?" I asked, and she laughed before heading out of the room and into the corridor.

"Ig, do you wanna go and help mom cook, and Fang and I will lay the table." I said, and the two other mutants nodded before all three of us traipsed into the kitchen. The two of us began to set the table, and only then did I see the problem. There was twelve of us, and eight seats; something about that just didn't seem right to me.

"Uh, mom." I said, making a wide hand gesture with my hand- she seemed to realise what I meant, as her brow creased.

"Oh, well, we have to two stools from the study. But that's it, so I guess we'd still be two chairs short…" She trailed off, only to be interrupted by a voice from the doorway.  
"Angel can sit on my lap." Nudge said, grinning big for some reason, Angel nodded along, and, seeing no harm in the plan both mom and I nodded. Big mistake.

"It's probably not a good idea for The Gasman to share with _anyone_." Fang mulled out loud, "And I _refuse_ to share with Ig, so, Max, it looks like you're stuck with me. There was a small pause, where I nodded- realising that it was actually the best plan that we had- and all eyes turned to mom. She looked uneasy, but either couldn't be bothered to object, or simply couldn't think of a reason that didn't sound stupid and petty (I'm betting on the last one), and let it be.

"Yeah, whatever, Fang. You just want an excuse to co…" Iggy was cut off, as Fang clapped a hand around the other mutants mouth. Fang whispered what I presumed to be a threat, to Iggy, and the blind mutants eyes went wide and he nodded quickly before Fang released him. Mom raised her eyebrow at me, but I simply shrugged. I had a feeling that neither of us really wanted to hear what Iggy had to say anyway, he was one twisted bird-kid.


	35. Part: 3, Chapter: 35

35.

Let me tell you, dinner that night was less then fun. I was, as informed earlier, perched on Fang's lap; Mom was at the far end of the table from the two of us, but her eyes never left us, and she spent the entire time shooting me a look that simply said '_We need to talk.'_ On our left hand side, we had the pleasure of Iggy, who spent the entire meal making comments- under his breath, luckily enough for him, and probably Fang and I- that had me nearly willing to whip put my wings and reveal our secret to these strangers, just to hit him round the head with one; I begrudgingly settled for my hand instead. But let me tell you, the difference was vast, and hitting him with my hand seemed just so mundane that I gave up after two hits.

Fang, however, seemed to enjoy watching me squirm, and I could tell that he was resisting the urge to grin throughout the entire meal. Ella was gazing at the two of us with an confused expression on her face, Gassy seemed unfazed and Nudge and Angel were both grinning like Cheshire cats on some sort of happy-pill. But, let me tell you, it was John and his three kids that made the entire ordeal worth while. Mariah spent the entire meal with a small scowl on her face, to which I replied by being sickly sweet; John was glancing between mom, and Fang and I, and then Ella so fast that I could practically see him shooting his eyes round so fast that they rolled into the back of his head. Jordan and Lewis, obviously having seen mine and Fang's less then discrete episode earlier- and possibly the one before, I wasn't sure- seemed stumped as to why mom was seemingly trying to kill Fang with her glares. A wasted attempt if you asked me, I mean, Fang gave out the worst death glares I'd ever seen, and hers didn't even compare.

All in all, the atmosphere was let then inviting, and throw in a dose of claustrophobia and I was about ready to throw myself out of the nearest exit. Luckily, my exit came in the form of mom announcing that the two of us needed to talk.

On second thoughts, maybe dinner wasn't so bad.


	36. Part: 3, Chapter: 36

36.

Mom was sat opposite me, her eyes holding concern.

"Max, I'm just worried."

"About what, exactly, Mom? I mean come on, we've spent our entire lives being chased by sadistic scientists and deranged dog-men, but we've survived. And we have every intention of continuing that constant right there. So what are you worried about?" I asked. Okay, We'd only been in this house one day, and already I was wondering whether this little 'vacation' was going to be relaxing in the slightest little bit.

"Max, not all types of pain are physical, there are mental one's too. I just don't want either of you to get hurt, if anything goes wrong."

"I know that, mom. And thanks. But right now, we're just getting used to the whole relationship thing, so I think we're safe, okay?" I asked, mom nodded and I stood and head out of her room- I seem to be ending up in there a lot recently. I glanced at the clock in the hallway, realising that it was in fact nearly eleven at night, and decided that it was time for the flock to head off to bed. Nudge and Angel were in their room with Ella, and my human sister decided that she too was going to sleep. The Gasman was practically falling asleep in an armchair, and according to Iggy, Lewis had work in the morning and therefore had headed off to bed. Fang carried The Gasman to his bed and the two of us said goodnight before heading downstairs and into the front room. Mom and John were sharing one of the sofas, Mariah was off in some other part of the house and Iggy slumped into an armchair, watching- or, rather, _listening_- to the TV with the others. Fang headed upstairs to the room that the two of us were sharing, and I nodded at him.

Sighing slightly to myself I said goodnight to Mom, John and Iggy, and then double checked on the kids. The Gasman was sprawled out on his bed fast asleep, arms and legs spread out and a happy half-grin on his face; Nudge and Angel were curled up on an inflatable double mattress on the floor. A bundle of arms and legs, and, the odd piece of black and white fur, proving that Total and Akila were amidst the huddle. I smiled and headed to the room that Fang and I were sharing.

Fang was lying on our bed in the dark, but he wasn't asleep. Just staring at the ceiling, probably trying to get to sleep. Without a word I closed the door, crossed the room and climbed into the bed, curling up against Fang.

"Max, what's wrong?" He asked softly, his voice quiet.

"I'm fine, but I was thinking that when all this is done, when we've finished the mission and we've got the rest of our lives ahead of us, do you think that mom would let us live here?" I asked, and then. "Do you think that the flock would want to? Would you want to? Or would you guys want to find your parents?"

"Max, Max, Max." Fang said softly, leaning over me so that he could look me in the eyes. "Angel told me that you were thinking about this the other day. No-one wants to leave you, no-one's interested in their parents. We've got you, we've got each other, and we've got Dr M and Ella; and that's all that any of us want or need, okay? So stop worrying, no-one's leaving you. We're the flock remember? Live together, die together."

"I know." Was my reply, and I paused, thinking of how to word my next statement. "I just, I don't want to hold you guys back. Not now, not ever. And if that means letting you go, then I'll do it."

"We know that, Max." He said softly, as he lay back down and pulled me to him. "And that's one of the reasons that you're such a good leader. Now, shut up and go to sleep."


	37. Part: 3, Chapter 37

37.

The week went by fairly un-eventfully and before long we were making our plans to leave. We'd planned to leave the day after, and so were making the most of the day. Of course, us being the flock, things didn't go exactly as planned.

"Max!" Angel screamed from outside, and I was out of the back door in minutes, shocked at what I saw. The large garden was filled with erasers. Instantly, the flock- who had been only seconds behind me- and I leapt into action and I rushed forward to help my baby. I ended up pitched against twenty erasers, and trust me, they'd planned it. They seemed to be timing the attacks and taking it in turns to dive in and out of reach, throwing a constant stream of attacks at me.

"Max! Look out!" Iggy's voice called, and I ducked, just in time to see a metal fist swing right past where my head had just been. How the blind pyromaniac had known it was there, I didn't know, but I was glad that he had.

The flock had fanned out, Fang, Nudge and Angel covering the doors- preventing the erasers from getting to the humans inside, and also making sure that said humans didn't accidentally walk outside and right into the middle of a war-zone. It was pretty clear that they knew that something was going on out here, but no-one emerged, and I was glad for it and could only guess that Mom had taken charge. The Gasman and Iggy were out at the far edge of the garden, where it was safer to use their bombs- of which they still had a huge supply- and I was in the middle, keeping as many at bay as I could manage.

The flyboy swung again and this time managed to clip my shoulder, sending me spiralling sideways with the force of the blow- straight into the arms of an awaiting fly-boy. Oh, yeah, definitely planned. I struggled helplessly against the robot as more and more of them threw punches and kicks at me, until I felt like I could fight no more. Then I was released and thrown into the middle of a circular-shaped group of flyboys, only to be whaled on again, and then, when the pain was getting so bad that I thought I was going to pass out, I heard Fang scream my name.

I fought desperately to stay awake, sucking in deep breaths that made my ribs sear with pain and me splutter and cough. If Fang was here then I would be fine, he wouldn't let anything happen to me. I fought to keep my breathing under control and opened my eyes, trying to make out what was going on around me. A dark shape- that I presumed to be Fang- was in front of me, with his back to me, fighting of the hoards of erasers that had come flocking as soon as I was down. I rolled over slightly, resisting the urge to cry out in agony, to check on the rest of my flock. Angel and Nudge were still tag-teaming, but they were up against a lot more erasers then I remembered; Fang was still guarding the doors with them, and Iggy and The Gasman were-as the sound of explosions proved- still going strong. This, of course, meant that the person protecting me _wasn't_ Fang, which in turn posed the question, who exactly were they? Nevertheless, he _was_ currently busy saving my life, so I figured that I'd save the questions for later. You know, if there actually was going to be one.

I sighed inwardly at my pessimistic attitudes, and pulled myself to my feet. My head spun, and I had to fight for a couple of seconds to stay on my feet, and then it cleared and I re-joined the fight. I heard the mystery guy mutter something about 'stupid' and 'determined' as I threw a couple of- admittedly weak- punches and kicks. I received a sloppy, but effective, kick to the ribs, and I was down again. I figured that at least four of them were broken, and let me tell you, that's painful.

_'Pain is just a message.'_

I thought to myself, and, it was then that I remembered my new(ish) power. I called upon all of my remaining energy, and envisioned all of the erases and flyboys being torn to shreds, and, to my immense surprise it worked. Of course, I hadn't quite factored in the gore factor, and my last coherent thought before the blackness finally invaded all my senses was:

_'Eew, gross!'_


	38. Part: 3, Chapter 38

38.

When I came too, my body was throbbing with intense pain. Nevertheless, I cracked my eyes open and tried to roll over slightly, only to be stopped by a firm hand.

"Just stay still, Max. You're in quite a state, it's probably best that you don't move." Iggy's voice said, and, despite his warning I turned my head to face him.

"'s not so bad." I managed to say, horrified at how weak and hoarse my voice was.

"Yes, Max. It is." He said, and I felt his fingers brush along my side.

"Where are the others? Are they hurt?" I asked, wincing as his hands brushed over my more then tender ribs.

"We're right here, Max." Fang's voice said, and I registered his hand holding mine for the first time.

"And mom? And Ella?"

"They're fine, and so are John and his kids. Everyone's fine, with the exception of you, superwoman." Fang said, a slightly dose of laughter in his voice. "Speaking of which, how did you tear all of those erasers to pieces like that without even touching them?"

"New power." I said, and shifted again. "Is anyone going to help me up? I'm feeling incredibly small down here." I said, Fang's arm slipped round my waist and he helped me into a sitting position, I smiled my thanks at him as I looked around the room. Mom was asleep on the sofa opposite me, Fang and Iggy were either side of me and John, his three kids and the flock were dotted around, also sleeping.

"How long was I out?" I asked, as Iggy stepped back slightly, his assessment complete.  
"Two days." Fang replied and I froze before nodding slightly.

"Okay, and where exactly are we?" I asked, glancing around the room.

"At a hotel, just inside the Colorado border." Fang said, pausing before continuing. "Mom and John decided to get away from the house- just in case. They bought another house not far from here, we're going to escort them there, wait 'till you're fully rested and then head out before anything else happens. Sound good?" He asked, and I nodded, using the heel of my hand to rub my head, where a headache was brewing. The plan _was_ actually well thought out, and I did like it.

I looked over at my sleeping blood-family.

"What did mom tell John?" I asked, and all three of us glanced in the direction of the grown man and his three kids.

"He figured that the three of us managed to get into a gang of some sorts, and that it was a gang war or something- she didn't correct him." He said.

"Right, now that Princess Max is awake, I'm going to go to sleep. Any objections?" Iggy asked.

"No, and Ig?" I asked, and the blind mutant turned once more. "Thanks." He grinned at me, a playful glint in his clearly tired eyes.

"That's okay, _sis._" He laughed before lying down (It was, as the clock informed me, 2:02 AM). Fang waited until Iggy was fully asleep before speaking again.

"You scared us all, Max; even mom managed to convince herself that you weren't going to wake up, at points," He said.

"I'm sorry, but I'd…" Fang cut me off.

"Do it all again?" He asked, and I nodded. "Yeah, I know. But can you please remember something? Next time you're in a situation like that?" He asked, and I nodded once more. "I love you, all of the flock love you; if you die, then we die. We're a flock. Live together…"  
"Die together." I finished for him and he nodded slightly before leaning over to kiss my forehead gently.

"Promise me that you won't leave me?" He asked, his lips brushing my skin.

"I promise, as long as you don't leave me."

"I promise."


	39. Part: 3, Chapter 39

39.

The second time that I awoke, this time at a more reasonable 8:30 AM, the others were starting to awake, too. No sooner had Angel opened her eyes then she was throwing herself into my waiting arms.

"Max! I was so scared! Everyone thought that you were going to die." She said, and a small tear fell down her face, I gently brushed it away.

"Me? No way, do you really think that I'd let them take me down?" I asked, covering my inwardly shocked expression with a small laugh. Only a few seconds later Nudge's eyes opened, closely followed by The Gasman, who in turn was on par with my Mom. In a flurry of arms and legs, Nudge and The Gasman threw themselves on top of me, jolting my ribs painfully- but I covered my wince with another small laugh and a smile. By the looks of things, Fang, Iggy and Mom weren't fooled.

"Are we going to check your new house today?" I asked Mom, who nodded, before frowning.

"I don't know if all of us should go…" She said softly, and I knew that the comment was aimed at me.

"I think that we should, you'll need our… senses to make sure that the place really is safe, if anyone's been there in the last 48 hours, we'll know about it." I said, glancing over at John and his three fully awake kids to make sure that they hadn't caught my slip. They seemed far too busy trying to reassure Mariah that they would be going back to the house, and that she could in fact rescue her Gucci bag that she'd forgotten in her haste (Gucci, please? That bag wouldn't last five minutes when it was _really_ needed). Mom nodded slightly, and then opened her mouth again.

"Will you be okay?" She asked, and I nodded. I would be, I couldn't put my family (and John and his three were now included in that) or flock at risk again, and I was going to take every precaution possible to make sure that didn't happen. I felt bad enough that they were having to leave behind their schools, jobs, friends and even their home, without throwing more trouble into the mix; and anyone who messed with them even again was _really_ going to get it, big time. Mom raised her eyebrow, like I'd done to my flock so many times, she clearly didn't believe me. I gently pushed the kids off me, and, with only a little help from Fang, I stood on my shaking, but mostly steady legs, she nodded and turned, right as my legs gave out from underneath me momentarily- Fang simply tightened his grip around my waist, being careful to avoid my ribs, and I was stable again. I flashed a smile of thanks at him, and he half-grinned at me, the way that only Fang can do, and quickly- whilst no-one else was looking- he leant down to peck me quickly on the lips, leaving them with a strange tingling feeling. I smiled a little bit before turning to the others.

"Angel, shower, now." I said, and the young girl nodded- her blonde girls flying around her face as she bounced to the bathroom.


	40. Part: 3, Chapter: 40

40.

The trip to Mom's house was _eventful_, let me tell you, cramming everyone into the two seven seaters wasn't the greatest idea ever, and before we were even half way there I was having to fight the urge to throw myself out of my window and into the fresh air. Fang and I had ended up with John and his family in his car, whilst the flock, Mom and Ella were in the other one, Mariah had spent pretty much the entire ride making sly digs at me (What the hell had I done to offend her?) and I knew that it wasn't long before Fang's instincts got the better of him again (and with my only two past experiences with this not having gone so well, I was thinking that it wasn't such a good idea). I was rubbing soothing circles on his knee, but the tenseness of my muscles kind of ruined _that_ affect, he had his arm slung around my shoulders, and I could tell that he was just itching to hit something although his impassive face gave away nothing.

"Fang, forget it." I muttered, but although I knew that he'd heard me I got no response.

"Mariah, although I can see that it would probably kill you not to throw abuse my way right now, it's probably not the greatest idea at the moment." I said, and saw John glance at Fang in the rear-view mirror.

"And why would I want to do that, Princess Maxi? You can't control everything like you do your stupid little family." She spat.

"Mariah, that's enough from you." John snapped, as I answered in a level voice.

"You're right, and I can't even control all of my family, which I why I _won't_ be able to stop Nick when he attacks you, okay?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. There was a pause, whilst Mariah studied Fang, and then she let out a sigh a turned in her seat- angling away from us. I heard two snickers from the row behind us (Jordan and Lewis) and one from the passenger seat in front of us (Total, Magnolia and Akila currently resided there, and since only one of them could actually snicker, my bet was on Total). A long silence followed, before Fang tensed even further, I curiously followed his gaze out of the back window and spotted what he had, too. There was a small white car not far behind Mom's and it was one that I recognised instantly.

"John, can you pull over, please?" I said, and, having learnt quickly that there was usually a good reason behind my actions, he did so without reason- closely followed by Mom's car, and the expensive-looking white one.

"What's going on?" John asked, turning in the seat to face us.

"We've got company, can you do us a favour and stay in the car, please?" I asked, as I followed Fang out of the car. I vaguely saw John nodding, but I was too busy motioning (with the flock hand symbols) to the others to tell them that they were to stay in the car, no matter what. Nudge translated for the two humans in the car, and Fang and I approached the only other person in the area. He was tall, and dressed in a white coat, thick-rimmed glasses framed the chocolate brown eyes that lay beneath dark hair.

"What are you doing here, Jeb?" I asked, my voice cold and sharp to my own ears.

"I bring… gifts." He said softly, his eyes begging for a forgiveness that I was not willing to give.

"Gifts?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow. "You _tailed_ us to give us _gifts_, is it just me that's finding this highly unlikely?"

"How else was I supposed to get to you?" He snapped, and I was surprised at the sudden anger that flew across his face.

"Just give us what you want to give us and then get out of here." Fang snapped back, his voice equally as venomous as my own, if not more. Jeb handed over a backpack, that even with my strength seemed strangely heavy, before stepping back to leave.

"Wait!" I said, suddenly remembering that I had something to ask him. "Is Raven real? And is she who she says she is?"

"Yes, Max. Raven is both real, and who she says she is. You'll need her in the future, and if she's not there, it will be at the cost of one of your flock." He warned, and his eyes gave a brief flicker to where Angel was sitting in the car. The message was clear enough, if I didn't get to Raven in time, then Angel would die, and I _could not_ allow that. Never. I nodded slightly, ignoring Fang's quizzical look and waiting for Jeb's retreat to where he'd just come before I tipped out the contents of the backpack- checking for bombs and the like. When I found nothing, I paused, contemplating what had just happened. Jeb had just snuck out of the lab to bring us gifts? No, I didn't think so. I did a mental recount of what he'd brought us, trying to discover the real reason behind what was he'd done, and then it hit me. His diary. All of the other belongings were fair game, things that would help us, so the diary was the anomaly, and I had a feeling that it would contain some kind of clue. He really was trying to help us.


	41. Part: 3, Chapter: 41

**(A/N Okay, guys. I am so sorry about the really long wait; but I've finally finished writing this story! Altogether there are 56 chapters, and a possible sequel to be called Maximum Ride: Undercover Agents. I really hope you enjoy this chapter!)**

41.

Okay, so when Mom told us that her new house had been sold to her by a friend who she occasionally helped with her animals, I _didn't_ register that it meant that the new house was a fully functioning farm, complete with animals. And when I say that, I'm being 100% serious, and apparently Mom and John were completely aware of this fact.

"Angela, Krystal; who don't you guys come with me to check on the horses?" Mom asked, and the two girls nodded eagerly; knowing that they were liable to get a little out of control, Fang and I tagged along.

The five of us headed into the long, rectangular building; and the smell of hay hit me, it smelt somehow warm, and had a strong sense of safety that accompanied it. The sound of large animals greeted me, and, despite the growing feeling of dread that was forming in the pit of my stomach, I allowed myself a small smile.

I guess that the feelings brought on by other animals, and the hay, was purely instinctual, surely a bird would feel more at home somewhere like this? Amongst other animals? There was a stall at the end of the barn, that something inside me was just itching to reach, so, I headed over- and, since Fang had my hand, he came, too. Upon reaching the stall I could see the beautiful, pure white horse within it.

Almost without hesitation I opened the stall- releasing Fang's hand in the process- and stepped inside; the horse bowed it's head slightly and, acting on instinct I placed my hand on the horses head.

Pain that was both red-hot and blindingly cold at the same time shot through me; a part of my mind upon which my body didn't react heard my ear splitting scream, but I was too busy focusing on the images that were filling my mind, none of them pleasant.

It took me what seemed like hours, but was probably only mere seconds, to realise that I was- through some painful, strange and cruel twist of fate- viewing all of the horses bad experiences, and her pain first hand. And let me tell you now, it was _painful_. The visions faded with a glimpse of me entering the stall, somehow telling me that it was the end of the 'vision' and then everything faded momentarily to black.

When I came too, I had a pounding headache and the pain that I had already been in had increased significantly, but, on the plus side, there were no more visions in my head and I didn't feel like I was on fire in the middle of a snow storm or something. I opened my eyes slowly, the light hurting my head, and was greeted by the sight of not only Fang and Dr M leaning over me- with Angel and Nudge stood in the entrance to the stall- but also the white horse. Surprising everyone, including myself, I reached out and gently touched her nose.

"What's her name?" I asked, my voice slightly hoarse.

"Amelia." Mom said, still bemused.

"It suits her," I said, before attempting to climb to my feet. And when I say attempting, I mean getting up just to fall and have Fang catch me- yeah, _embarrassing. _I felt my cheeks flush, and Fang sent me a grin that clearly said that he was amused at my reaction.

"Max, what happened back there?" Mom asked gently, and Fang's amused look disappeared as he remembered why I'd fallen in the first place.

"I'm not… I think…. I think that I might have just seen every bad experience that this horse has been through- accompanied by all of the pain that she's ever felt." I said, and was met by an awkward silence.

"That must have been awful, Max." Mom said, I shrugged slightly before sending Fang a look that told him to let me try standing again.

I was glad that this time when he put me on my feet I didn't fall, I was wobbly, but I could stay upright- and walk, which was a definite plus.

"Come on guys, we'd better check out the house." I said, ignoring the headache that had begun to throb behind my eyes; the way that my ribs flared with pain every time that I moved and the fact that I wasn't too sure that I was going to get very far without a little bit- okay, a lot- of assistance. Seemingly realising this, Fang slipped an arm around my waist, holding me upright and steadying me in what was a simple boyfriend-girlfriend thing that would be overlooked. It was reasons like this that he'd always been my best friend, sweet and caring, but also tough enough to take care of himself, and, if anything happened to me, then the flock. And, just to top that off, he had a _wicked_ sense of humour.


	42. Part: 3, Chapter: 42

42.

The house stood slightly separate from the barns and the likes; it was white, and yet had the whole farm-house feel going for it, outside there was a large porch, made out of a light timber, with lavish designs carved into the hand rail. And trust me when I say this, it was _huge_. It was like one of the beautiful houses that are shown in all of those romance films, you know, the ones where people skip through fields of flowers and announce their love for each other by verse? Yeah, like that.

Fang was walking by my side, and the two of us followed the others into the house. The noises coming from above us made it clear that everyone except Mom and John- who were patiently waiting for us- were off exploring.

"Max, Fang, John and I want to talk to you about something." Mom said hesitantly, and, weary of what she was going to say, I nodded and the four of us headed into the lavishly decorated lounge. Fang sat on an armchair, and pulled me into his lap carefully as Mom and John sat on one of the sofas.

"We've been thinking, when you've finished up everything," Mom said, with a glance at John- who, all credit due, hadn't pried about us once- "We want you, if you want to, that is, move in with us." Mom said, and there was a slight pause- in which I resisted the urge to throw myself at her in a hug- before I grinned.

"We'd love to, Mom. But we've got a few _things_ to sort out first; and I think first off, we should tell John and his family a little bit more about us."

"Are you sure, Max?" John asked, taking me by surprise. "You don't have to tell us anything that you don't want to, you're a part of the family now, and family doesn't pressure family." He said, and I smiled slightly.

"And family doesn't keep secrets from family." I said, and Fang raised his hand to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle.

The flock had joined us in the room almost instantly, and the human kids weren't far behind- panicked looks on their faces. The flock weren't bothered, they knew that the signal that we were in trouble was a yell, _not_ a whistle, and therefore were stood nonchalantly around the room, grins on their faces at the sight of the human children.

"What's going on?" Mariah asked, a sour look on her otherwise pretty face.

"We've got something to tell you." I said, and rose from the settee so that I could face everyone in the room, and launched into our story.

"We aren't exactly who you think we are." I said softly. "For a start, Max isn't short for Maxine Batchelder, but for Maximum Ride; Nick's name is Fang; Jeff's name is Iggy; Krystal's name is Nudge and Angela and Zach are really Angel and The Gasman. Secondly, we're not exactly human," I said, and as I spoke I pulled of my jacket and, sucking in a deep breath of anticipation, I spread my wings. Now let me tell you, their reactions were _funny_.


	43. Part: 3, Chapter 43

43.

"So when you said that you had things to do, you meant fighting off this company, the erasers and the flyboys?" John asked, and I nodded. "And that your planning on leaving tomorrow?" Again, I nodded.

"And you're okay with this?" He asked my mom.

"Of course I'm not okay with it! But they're the only chance that this world's got right now- as sad as it is to say, and I think that they can manage it. Like they said, they've already stopped roughly five experimentation centreS, I think that they can do this, I really do." She replied, he nodded and I pulled my jacket back on, right as the doorbell went. The flock and I froze, Mom and John looked around slightly, confused looks on their faces; Mariah, Ella, Jordan and Lewis also seemed confused as I began dishing out silent orders just in case.

I waved a hand at Fang and Nudge to guard the door (of the room that contained everyone) and the others to guard the windows, whilst I went to answer the door.

When I opened the door it was to see a guy, just older then me, about to turn and walk back down the path; his eyes widened as he took me in. I mean seriously, did I look _that_ bad?

"Hi, I'm Karl." He said, holding his hand out to shake. Now, usually, I wouldn't have even thought about accepting his hand, but a handshake was all that I'd really need to figure out if he was human or not, so, I accepted his hand and shook it, putting slight pressure on his hand. His grip was firm, and I could feel the muscle there, but his skin was smooth, and the grip wasn't too strong; and, so, I deduced that he was human and released his hand.

"I'm Max." Was my response. "How can I help you?"

"My mom sent me round to introduce myself to the new neighbours, you know? She says that if you and your family need anything, just to let us know." He said, with a wide grin.

"Uh… Thanks?" I said, unsure of what people would normally respond to this.

"So, how many of you are there?" He asked, leaning nonchalantly up against the doorframe.

"Twelve." I said, and his eyebrows raised a little bit.

"Me and my adopted brothers and sisters from my mom's past marriage, my sister, my step-sister, step-dad and two step-brothers." I specified, and he nodded.

"Hey, I know, why don't you come out with me on Saturday night?" He asked, "I can show you around, introduce you to some people…" He said, but trailed off as Fang emerged from the room and wrapped his arms around me, dropping a kiss on my collarbone.

"What's taking so long, baby?" He asked, and I mentally rolled my eyes.

"I'm busy Saturday." I said, mentally rolling my eyes again. "Sorry."

"Oh, okay then." He said, and just when I thought that he'd given up, he spoke again. "How about Sunday?"

"Still busy." Fang mumbled against my skin, making me shiver as he pulled me further back against him.

"Oh, well, what school are you going to?" He asked, clearly he did _not_ get the message.

"We're not going to school here; we still live primarily with our dad for the moment." Fang said stiffly.

"_Our_ Dad?" Karl queried, raising an eyebrow at mine and Fang's positioning.

"Yeah, Maxi here's mom and dad adopted me, my half-sister and a few other kids." Was Fang's vague response, as I sneakily elbowed him in the ribs for calling me Maxi.

"Actually, we're supposed to be packing the stuff for our dad's house right now." Fang continued, and I nodded slightly as we both moved to shut that door and Karl said a hurried goodbye- ending with the door just about shutting on his face.

Fang and I watched him re-trace his steps to his car, climb in, and speed out of view with relief. Thank God that he'd been human, I was pretty sure that John, Mom and the others wouldn't have been too happy about having to leave their new house already. The two of us headed back into the front room, where we'd left the room; the others hadn't moved, and the four of them turned to face us as we entered the room.

"So, who was that, _Maxi_?" Iggy asked, and I calmly threw a shoe at his head- hitting it with perfect aim.

"Hey! No throwing stuff at the blind guy!" He said, in apparent outrage, and I grinned.

"Yeah, 'cause you're so handicapped." I said, and then, "He was human, it's all clear." The other stepped away from the windows and I nodded at them, silently telling them that they'd done a good job.

"Right, have we got blankets and stuff for the floor, or are we going it rough?" I asked, signalling at the carpet- there was a moment of silence, and then Mom spoke again.

"There's plenty of rooms, with inter-changeable rooming." Mom said, "John and I figured out some quick rooming ideas when you were… unconscious, Max." Mom said, and John picked up where she'd left off. "We figured that the flock would want to be together? So Mariah, Ella, Jordan and Lewis can have a room of their own, and Iggy can share with The Gasman, Nudge with Angel, and Max with… Fang." John said the last part reluctantly, it would appear that the adults were still learning to accept the change in relationship. The flock and the other kids nodded, and it was agreed. I paused for a moment, and then Mom and John's words' meaning sunk in, they really did want us to stay; to them, we really were a part of the family, and that felt better then I ever could have thought.


	44. Part: 4, Chapter: 44

__

Part Four: Lights, Camera, Action.

44.

Two days had passed since we'd arrived at the new house, and Fang had finally deemed me fit to fly, as long as I stayed by his side when I flew (just in case I fell). I wasn't sure why I was suddenly listening to him bossing me around, but he seemed to always make a good point, one that I really _couldn't_ argue with. I was just itching to fly, going a week without flying was something that I just _wasn't_ used to, not at all.

I'd spent a large percentage of the last few days in the stables with Amelia, Mom had said that when I'd been unconscious the mare had been leaning over me, whining. The two of us seemed to have formed some sort of bond, to the point of being able understand each other without words, and to send thoughts to each other. At first, I was completely mystified, and then the voice said that it was another new power, and that it would be important towards the end of the mission; I accepted it, I mean there was nothing that I could really do, anyway. What's done is done, and all that jazz.

Currently, the flock and I were preparing to take off, having already said our (mostly) sad goodbyes, with the exception of Mariah, who stood to the side, looking bored. I did one last check that we had everything- with the exception of Total, who had 'volunteered' to stay behind and 'look after things at home'. For a mutt, he sure could be pretty sweet sometimes. Once I was sure that we had everything, I motioned for Angel and The Gasman to go, closely followed by Iggy and Nudge, and the me and Fang.

The six of us fell into formation almost instantly, only breaking it when one of us would randomly dive, or flip, or do some other type of aerial manoeuvre. Up here in the skies it was so easy to forget all my worries, to let go, and just _relax_; of course, I didn't, and in fact I began to come up with a plan for the next Itex building, which the voice had informed me was the penultimate one; for which I was immensely glad. He had also informed me of our destination- apparently, we were headed back to Virginia. Home of memories and traitors, you know, all the good stuff. I had a feeling that this lab was going to be harder than the others, if the voice was right, Raven and her three siblings resided at this lab, and they needed to be saved.

I was pulled out of my reverie as the distant sound of clicking caught my attention; it was a noise that to the trained ear was unmistakable; the sound of the safety being knocked off a high powered rifle.

"Scatter!" I yelled to the flock, and then the first wave of bullets were firing. Of course, by this point my flock were already weaving dipping and diving, relying on their mutant instincts to avoid the bullets.

__

'Why can't they just leave us alone for five freaking minutes?'

I growled in my mind, not expecting the response that I got. __

'Think about what they want, Max. What they really want.'

The voice informed me, and it took me a second to realise what they _did_ want. __

'Wait, me?'

I asked.

'_Very good, Maximum. Now, use it to your advantage.'_ He instructed, and it took only mere seconds for me to formulate a plan.

Still dodging the bullets, I headed over to Iggy. Him and The Gasman were using Iggy's hearing the Gassy's sight to work as a unit, twisting and diving in unison- using a series of bird noises to direct the movement, a code that we'd devised as younger kids.  
"Iggy, pass me a bomb, one with at least a two second delay." I ordered.

"Are you sure, Max?" He asked.

"I'm sure, I have a plan." I said, spinning belly up momentarily to receive the bomb from Iggy and to avoid yet another bullet.

"Make sure everyone keeps going straight," I called to Fang. "I'll catch up."

He gave me a nod, though I could see that he was hating knowing that he was having to leave me behind. I paused for a second, shooting him a grin before angling downwards towards the floor in a steep dive; as I'd hoped, the bullets followed me as I did aerial manoeuvres, pulling out of my dive at the last moment and shooting between the trees, smiling slightly as I kicked my super speed in and the person with the gun- a man- swore loudly.

The moment that I caught of the man and his Sig Sauer (yes, that's a rifle) I pressed the button to activate the bomb, threw it at the man and then took off through the dense canopy. I made it through just in time to avoid the large explosion and the gore that came with it. Score one for Max.

I heard the whoops of my flock as I pulled level with them; Iggy and The Gasman both gave me enthusiastic high fives.

"That was awesome, Max." The Gasman said with a large grin. Seriously, you know you've had a hard life when an eight-year-old high fives you for blowing someone up. Even Nudge, who was the least violent of us all, was nodding in appreciation.

"Hey, Max, what's that?" Angel asked, pointing to the corner of Jeb's still unread journal (truth be told, I'd forgotten about it) that was hanging out of a hole in the corner of my pack.

"It was a present from Jeb." I said smoothly, and then, "Is everyone alright? No-one got hit, did they?"

My question was primarily aimed at Fang, as far as I knew, he was the only flock member that would take a bullet and _not_ mention it. He gave me the universal hand signal for Okay, and the others assured me that they too were a-okay.

"Right guys, keep your eyes open for someplace to eat and we'll head down." I said, completely calm, as if I hadn't just blows up a man a couple of minutes beforehand. What can I say? My life's just wacky that way.


	45. Part: 4, Chapter: 45

**(A/N OME! I've got over 100 reviews, I'm so amazed, I never expected this story to be so well liked- although I was both happy and sad when I finished writing the last chapter. Hard to believe that I never really intended to take this anywhere, huh? Now, if only I could do that with my own novels... Anyways, thankyou all so much for reviewing, it always manages to put a smile on my face. And I have a little request FOR ALL OF MY AMERICAN READERS, OR ANYONE ELSE WHO CAN HELP ME OUT, CAN YOU LET ME KNOW ALL OF THE FASHIONABLE AMERICAN SHOPS THAT YOU KNOW? I'm doing some stuff for the sequel (Summary at the end of the chapter- if I remember) and being English, it's becoming increasingly hard *sigh*. Please let me know of them in a review, many thanks, and lots more love, Nix Blaque xXx)**

45.

It wasn't long before Nudge began rambling, about _Asparagus_, no less; needless to say, I was immensely glad when Fang pointed out a McDonalds. On top of all of the pain that I'd already been feeling, I now had a pounding headache, and I wanted nothing more then to pop some painkillers and relax a little bit. Of course, in my haste this morning I'd left them on the counter of mine and Fang's en-suite bathroom.

"Okay, Angel, Gassy, why don't you go and find us a table?" I asked, and I was about to go and join the queue when fang lightly caught my arm.

"Why don't you go with them and sit down? I'll order, you look worn out." He said, I nodded slightly and he kissed my forehead lightly before pushing me towards Angel and Thee Gasman.

It wasn't long before the others arrived with the food, two trays each, piled high with food. When Fang handed me my tray I caught sight of the two white pills on the tray. Trust Fang to know what I needed, even though I hadn't mentioned it; I smiled a thanks at him and he offered me one of his heart stopping grins. I swallowed the two pills with my soda, and it wasn't long before the pain began to ebb away. Ahh, the joys of modern day medicine.

After a while I became aware of the fact that we were receiving stares from someone, and I did a nervous 360. There was a group of guys, probably about nineteen-ish that were openly staring at us. Or rather, openly staring at Fang and I. I finished of my last burger and headed to the trash can to dump my rubbish- not realising my mistake until it was too late. I turned from the trash can to find myself surrounded by the very guys that had been staring at us.

"Hey, baby." One of them said, with a grin that made me feel sick to my stomach.

"Yeah, see you later." I said, and tried to push through the wall of boys, I was unsuccessful. Usually, they'd be no match, but, truth be told, I was in some serious pain- and I knew that I wouldn't last long in a fight. "Seriously, let me through." I said, trying again to push through- only to be slammed back against a wall.

"How about you ditch your friends and come hang out with us?" A different guy said, and a few of his friends laughed slightly.

"Yeah, you know you want to, baby." Said yet another guy.

"Yeah, and how are things on planet you wish?" I snarled.

"They're definitely looking up now." He said, and stepped slightly closer- only to be yanked backwards by a highly annoyed Fang.

"Yeah? You might want to re-think that assessment." He said, and punched him in the face, throwing him to the floor. Iggy wasn't far behind, and within seconds all seven of them were on the floor, and none of them looked all to happy about it.

"Guys, it's alright. Seriously." I said, as I tried to hold both of them back- let me tell you, it's even harder then it sounds.

"Did they hurt you?" Fang ground out, dragging his eyes from the guys- who were now scrambling backwards as people stared at them, most of them trying to suppress laughter.

"I'm fine, I just jostled my ribs a little bit is all." Was my answer, and he pulled me into a one-armed hug, kissing me on top of the head before turning to the snivelling guys on the floor.

"You ever even think about touching her again, and I'll track you down, and I will hurt you." He ground out. "Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, man." One of them said, scrambling to his feet. "We understand you."

"Good, now get out of here." He growled, and let me tell you- I've never seen seven humans run faster in all my life. Seriously, if this had been a cartoon, there would have been dust trails behind them and car noises. Of course, by this time I was getting past the initial annoyance of getting mobbed by the boys, and I was now annoyed at myself for having to be _protected_. Seriously, the invincible Maximum Ride not being able to handle a couple of human boys, _pathetic._ Fang seemed to read my mind as he lead Iggy and I back to the table to collect the others as he leant slightly forward and whispered,

"That was pretty good going for a girl with broken ribs." He whispered into my ear. I shrugged him off, still annoyed at myself and heard him and Iggy snigger behind me.

When we arrived back at the table the flock were just collecting their things and a flustered looking waitress was collecting what she could of the remains; though, she did perk up when she saw Fang, Iggy and I approaching, and, with the look that she was giving Fang I could wager a good guess as to why. I stepped slightly closer to him, leaning slightly against him as he automatically wrapped his arm around me and gave me a gentle squeeze. Apparently, he had yet to notice the looks that he was receiving. Sometimes, I swear he can be as blind as Iggy, if not blinder. Either that or he was choosing to remain blissfully ignorant of the fact that the waitress was currently being dazzled simply by the approach of himself and Iggy; my bet was on the second option.

The three of us scooped up our backpacks before following the younger three out of the fast food restaurant, leaving a gaping waitress who was still holding out the napkin with her number written on it that the guys hadn't even double glanced at as they brushed past her in our wake.

'_So, where to next, voice?' _I asked surprised when it chose to answer me- which it seemed to be doing a lot more recently.

_'There's a large hotel two blocks north from here, someone will be there to meet you, and then, when that's over, there's another hotel two blocks due east from there, where you can spend the night. Reservations are the same as always, and remember, you're spoilt rich kids.'_

It informed me, and I grinned slightly.

"Okay, guys, we're headed two blocks due north; we're off to meet someone." I relayed to the flock, and the six of us changed course accordingly.

_'Voice, can I ask you a question?'_ I asked.

_'Of course, Max. But I can't promise you answers.' _Came the reply.

_'Who exactly are you?'_ I asked, there was a long pause, and then;

_'I'm someone whose intentions are to keep you safe, Max. I can't tell you anything more about me- except that the two of us will be meeting soon; oh- and I'm a he, not an it.'_

Well, where exactly did that leave me? Back at square one.

**(A/N 2. Okay, I know the summary for the sequal is going to sound _way_ cliche, but you'll just have to trust me to pull it off, okay?**

**Maximum Ride: Undercover Agents**

**Max and the flock are recovering from their battle at the last Itex quaters, and are happily settled down with their human family. What happens when Max see's Itex returning, by the hand of a mysterious man that is known as Dr Muchmoore? The voice sends Max and the flock undercover into their own personal hell: a normal school. The objective? To use the man's kids to get to him, and stop his plans before he can do anything with them. Will this finally be the flocks final mission? Or will they never be safe? FAX**

**There you go, faithful readers, you're the first to read it, so let me know what you think! Love, Nix Blaque xXx)**


	46. Part: 4, Chapter: 46

46.

It was only a matter of minutes before the flock and I found ourselves outside of the big hotel, and, upon seeing who it was that we were supposed to be meeting I stopped.

"Right, Angel, Nudge; when we get inside I want you to guard the front door- if someone who so much as looks like an eraser comes in then I want to hear about it, okay? Iggy, Gassy, I want you two to guard the entrance to the rest of the hotel- the same goes for you, okay? Fang, you're with me." The five of them nodded and we headed inside. The flock dutifully took up there positions, and I watched proudly as they put of their 'intimidating' faces, and the other guests in the hotel shrunk back; content that we weren't going to get attacked with out knowing about it, Fang and I stepped up to the middle of the room.

"What are you doing here?" I snarled, facing the one person I'd ever come across that had nearly beaten me without even trying. Omega.

"I came to warn you." He said, and something in his voice seemed different.  
"Warn me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "The last time we met you were trying to kill me, why would you suddenly want to warn me?"

"Because at the moment we're working for the same goal. You want all of the Itex branches destroyed, and my master wants the competition eliminated- we need to be the only branch up and running. You see? We both want the next Itex branch that you're going to attack to be destroyed; and so, I'm here to warn you that this one will be harder then anything that you've ever faced. The perimeter has an electric fence, a stream filled with toxic chemicals, then another fence and then erasers patrolling the area; it'll be hard to get in. All of the roofs are pressure sensitive. Your only chance will be to go over the top and straight through the front door; it'll be risky, but it should work." He said, and there was a moments silence.

"You know that we're not going to avoid your 'masters' Itex building, right?" I asked, and he nodded before speaking again.

"I ask only one thing in return," I nodded, and he continued. "Make sure that you take me down with the building."


	47. Part: 4, Chapter: 47

47.

You know you're having an off day when an evil accomplice asks you for a favour, you agree and he asks you to kill him. Something about that just doesn't sit right with me. Of course, being me, I had a sharp as daggers response ready.

"What!?" I gasped, reeling with inner shock.

"Make sure that you kill me, too."

"I got that, but why?" I asked, confused. And trust me, this situation already had a headache forming (a normal one though, I'm glad to report).

"You think I like being what I am? You think I like following orders? Just because they say I don't have a soul it doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm doing is wrong. I follow orders because that's what stops them torturing people like me, like you- us, in there. I can't do it any more. I can't be a monster. Their little pet. I won't." Well, all things considered, I thought that was a pretty good speech, I would have applauded him, but he _was_ asking me to kill him, so I thought it might be slightly inappropriate. Fang was silent beside me, but I could tell that he too was impressed. I'd always thought that Omega was _literally_ a mindless killing machine, that he was programmed to kill and not to think; looking back, I guess that's pretty narrow-minded, huh? I mean, sure, they'd managed give me and the flock some wings and a couple nifty tricks by altering out DNA, but we were still part human. We still had human thoughts and feelings, and it only made sense that Omega did, too.

"But why do we have to kill you?" I asked, "Why can't you just leave? Fall off the radar? You must have managed to do it now, I mean, you're here, talking to us. Unless, you know, this whole thing's a trap- but I think we've got that aspect," I motioned to my flock "covered."

"If I disappear for more then a few hours at a time they'll get suspicious, then they'll look. I have a tracking device implanted in my skull, no matter what happens, they'll know where I am." Instantly my thoughts flew to the chip I'd had removed from my arm. It hadn't stopped the attacks, or the voice, so maybe there was another one? Maybe, like Omega, I had one in my head? Or somewhere else where it'd be impossible to remove.

"But you can fight! You must be almost impossible to beat, I mean, you beat Max." Fang said softly, making me jump; and his comment making me frown. Was that a compliment, or did guys not like girls who could kick serious butt?

_'Not the time, Max.'_

I mentally reprimanded myself; I let my eyes wander to Omega's. When I'd first seen them my first thought was that they looked dead, seeing them now made me realise that was nothing, now his eyes looked dead- no life in them at all. This was what he really wanted, and so, I held out my hand. He seemed surprised, but placed his hand in my own carefully- being careful not to shake too hard.

"You're sure that this is what you want?" I asked, "There's no way that you can change your mind after this; once we sign up for something we make sure it happens." I said, my voice serious, every cell in my body wishing that he'd grin, yank my arm and send me flying; that this whole thing was a trick. It wasn't. I was going to have to kill him, knowing that he was in there and that there was hope for him, unlike the rest of the mutants.

"I'm sure." He said, and then after a moment's hesitation. "Thank you, Maximum Ride. When you attack I will have your back, I'll do my best to keep you safe. I promise. And if there really is a heaven, and by some sort of a miracle I get there, I'll put a good word in with the boss. After all, don't kids with wings go to heaven?" He smiled at his own joke, but it was a wry smile, and meaningless.

"I'm sorry it came to this, Omega. If there was another way then I'd do without a doubt." I said, hoping that he'd realise that in some twisted way I wasn't enjoying this.

"I know this, Maximum; and I also know that this is the only way for me. This is what I want."

"I know." I said, and, with a sad nod, Omega turned and walked away, pausing in the door to wave one last time.

There was a pause as Fang and I stayed standing where we were, and the flock stood where the were, staring at us; they'd seen Omega and I shake hands, so they knew that we'd made a deal, they just didn't know what; and I knew that would worry them. Nevertheless, they held their positions, and I knew they would do until I told them to stop. They were good kids, we all were, really. I turned to look at Fang, knowing that he was going to be mad as hell. Killing someone without real reason was something that the two of us had once sworn we'd never do. But that was back in the E-shaped house, when our lives almost made sense, I'd killed since then- always with good reason- but I'd done it. And I knew that after I'd blown the last Itex building up, and now with Omega inside, I was going to have to seriously think about that. Maybe all the winged kids weren't going to go to heaven, after all.

"Why the hell did you agree to that?" Fang asked, from between clenched teeth.

"Because, if it came to it, I'd want someone to do the same for me. Remember when I thought I was turning into an eraser? What did I ask you to do?" I asked, my voice calm, despite the fact that inside I was dreading having to commit the murder. Or assisted suicide, depending on how you looked at it.

"You asked me to kill you." He said softly, clearly not liking the memory.

"And if I had turned into an eraser, I knew I could count on you to help me by killing me; Omega has no-one else to turn to. In the situation, he was me and I was you; I couldn't deny him the very thing that I'd asked for myself, could I?" I said, Fang nodded slightly and without another word the two of us headed over to the flock.

"What the hell was that about?" Iggy asked, his sightless eyes blazing with anger. "Please tell me that you did not just make a deal with that creep."

"Yes, Iggy, I did. But it's not one that is, or could be dangerous to us, any of us, so please, just leave it be." I said, Iggy looked mad at me, but, after his eyes flickered to Fang- who had stepped up and placed an arm around my shoulders- he dropped the subject.

"Where are we going now, Max?" Nudge asked, and I smiled thankfully at the young girl.

"How does another hotel sound, guys?" I asked, proceeding to lead my cheering flock out of the door, all the while unable to shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. And strangely, I was pretty sure that it wasn't going to happen to us.

We were almost at the hotel when it happened, one second we were all walking along- joking and laughing, trying to forget what had happened only minutes before when I was filled with a sense of panic. For a moment the sense was so overwhelming that I didn't even realise that the panic wasn't mine, and then everything clicked into place as the flock called my name is desperation; it wasn't me that was panicking. It was Amelia, and I knew that the horse would have good reason. Something was wrong, seriously wrong, back at the house.


	48. Part: 4, Chapter: 48

48.

I felt my knees give out from underneath me, as I realised that a member of my family was in trouble, and it was undoubtedly my fault.

'_Amelia, what's going on?'_ I asked, and almost instantly my head was filled with images.

Erasers swarming the new house, and the sounds of Mom's, Ella's and Mariah's screams as them and the men tried to defend themselves. Things weren't going so well.

Within minutes Mariah was unconscious and being loaded into a van that drove off instantly. At the moment, I was too late to save her, but right now I could do my best for the others._'Voice, what do I do?'_

I thought urgently.

_'Imagine that you're there, next to Amelia, concentrate hard on it, and keep your eyes shut.'_

The voice instructed, and I dutifully did what I was told. 'Okay Max, go and help your family.' He said, and I opened my eyes- amazed to see that I was in the barn, but wasting no time into getting into the house.

Luckily, mere seconds had passed since I'd seen Mariah get driven away, and the others were still fighting- barely, but fighting they were. I immediately launched into action; taking out twenty erasers in less than five minutes flat, despite my still healing injuries- I was determined to protect my family.

Finally, with a little help from Jordan and Lewis I had finished off all of the erasers, and everyone except Mariah was present.

"Where's Mariah?" John asked, panicking as he looked around; mom's eyes met mine, and she knew what I was going to say before I said it.

"Taken." The two of us said together.

"What? By the erasers?" John asked, and I could see the anguish on his face.

"Yeah, but don't worry; I'll get her back. And this will be the last time that any of the labs mess with my family." I said dangerously; and then everything around me began to fade.

'What on earth is going on?'

I thought, and I could have sworn that I heard the voice chuckle.

'You didn't teleport, Max. You simply astral-projected, and it takes up a lot of energy, and therefore you must now return to your flock.' The voice informed me, and that I was blinking open my eyes and staring into the face of a very worried Fang.

"Max?" He asked.  
"They have Mariah." I mumbled.

"What are you on about, Max."

"Itex, they have Mariah."

"But- how do you know that?" He asked.

"The voice said something about Astral Projection; I basically pictured myself there and I was, I helped them as best as I could; but I wasn't in time to get Mariah. We need to get her back, Fang." I said, and he nodded before helping me to my feet. Making me realise for the first time that I had been lying on the floor of an alleyway along the street we'd just been walking along, my head in Fang's lap. I looked around my flock, they all looked ready for a battle. And that was exactly what we were going to give Itex.


	49. Part: 4, Chapter: 49

__

Part Five: Saviour and Prisoner.

49.

The flock and I were sat around mine and Fang's suite in the hotel suite.

"So, I'm guessing you have a plan, Max?" Nudge asked, and I smiled slightly, still tired from my astral whatever.

"Of course I do, Nudge." I said softly, and then, making sure that everyone was listening, I launched into it. "Okay, well, obviously we're still going to have to go to the first lab that we planned to go to, because Raven's there; and we're going to need her."

"Who?" The Gasman asked, but I ignored him and continued. "So, we'll attack them tomorrow; and then we'll grab a couple of hours sleep, and then well all head over to the second lab.

"When we get to the first lab, Fang, Angel, Nudge and I are going to go in, and Iggy and Gassy are going to wire bombs all around the perimeter. The second that we get out, you set the bombs off, I can get us out of there in time, all of us." I said softly. They all nodded, and when I was sure that they understood I told them about the plan for the second lab.

"The second lab is going to be a _lot_ different. Remember when I came to rescue you guys?" I asked Angel, Gassy and Iggy; they nodded. "I let myself get captured, and they took me straight to you guys? Well, I have the same plan here- except I'm only giving myself a day. Angel, you remember me asking you if you could set up a mental connection with Fang?" I asked, and she nodded.  
"I'm sorry, Max- I tried so hard, but everyone in there was panicking, and it was _so_ loud- I couldn't pick you out."

"That's okay, honey. But can you do it now?" I asked, she nodded, and almost instantly Fang's thoughts filled my mind. I immediately shot up my mind blocks, before lowering them slightly- letting only thoughts that were aimed at me in, and only those aimed at Fang out.

"Okay, so on the way out I'll give a signal to Fang, you can get the bombs going- I'll get Mariah and I out; and hopefully, that should be all. Sound alright?" The others nodded, though none of them looked all too happy with it. Mariah, here we come.


	50. Part: 4, Chapter: 50

50.

The next day the flock and I woke early, and ate a quick breakfast before heading over to the Itex labs; a quick survey proved that all of the information that Omega had given me was in fact correct. The survey of the building took roughly half an hour, and then a further 20 minutes hovering as Iggy, Nudge and The Gasman worked on the security system. They couldn't turn it of completely- apparently Itex was using some form of advanced system that they couldn't decode- but the three nerds managed to wire in a half hour delay for the alarm response. With any luck, that was plenty of time to be in and out; with _my_ luck, that was probably enough time to find Raven and the others.

We split into the two groups almost as soon as the three of them finished, and- just like Omega had told us too- Fang, Nudge, Angel and I walked straight through the front door. There was a brief second where we paused, waiting for alarms to blare and lights to flash; but they didn't, and so we headed out.

It took us nearly twenty minutes to find the room that we wanted; and we were all nervous about walking in there- already we'd had roughly ten close encounters with whitecoats and erasers. Still, I tentatively pushed open the door and stepped inside- and as I did so my eyes met with another set, the exact same shade as mine- Raven.

"You came, mummy!" She said excitedly, and I nodded, pressing a finger to my lips. She nodded, and I allowed my gaze to wander. It was clear to see which ones were her 'brothers and sisters'. There was two babies in the cages to her right, with a boy roughly her age at the end of the row; and they were all staring at us expectantly.

"Nudge, can you use your powers to open their cages?" I asked, and she nodded and stepped forward, she placed her hand on the lock of Raven's cage, and a split second later it swung open. The young girl launched herself into my arms- clearly close to tears, I held her close for a second before pushing her towards Fang, who scooped her up without saying a word- a look of bewilderment on his face.

Within seconds Nudge had sprung the other three kids- Fang had Cole (the boy who looked a similar age to Raven) on his back, piggy-back style and Raven in his arms; Nudge was holding one of the tidy babies- the girl- who Raven informed me was called Akira and Angel was holding the baby boy called Elias.

"Come on guys, let's get a move on- we've only got two minutes left." I said, and turned to leave, only to catch sight of a file labelled. 'PROJECT GENERATION'. Quickly, I grabbed it and zipped it into the satchel that I was wearing before opening the door and peering out into the corridor. Satisfied that there was no-one there, I stepped out into the open- closely followed by the others; right as twenty or so erasers stepped around the far corner.

"Run!" I shouted, and no-one questioned the order, all of us running for the door marked 'EXIT' at the end of the hallway.

"Nudge, the door!" I yelled, and a look of concentration crossed her face before the door opened in our path. I grabbed Angel's hand, she grabbed Nudge's and Nudge grabbed Fang's as we all jumped into the air and out of the doorway. The second that we were out, I hit turbo-speed, just in time to escape the fireball the shot into the air behind us. I heard Angel, Nudge and Raven scream, and the two young babies begin to cry. And still I was happy, we were home free.

I landed on the other side of the fence, next to Iggy and The Gasman- who were slapping high fives, and dropped to my knees panting. Let me tell you, flying at nearly 500 mph whilst carrying seven other people is _exhausting_. Iggy held out a bottle of water and I gulped it down before shaking my hair out of my face and standing, surveying my flock and the four kids. Iggy and The Gasman were stood next to the backpack, grins still on their faces; Nudge was sat on the floor, with Angel lying with her head in the older girls lap; Raven and Cole were holding one of the babies and huddled together and Fang was watching over them carefully.

"Okay, so, how about we head over to the town and get us something to eat?" I asked, receiving various levels of agreement. The ten of us took to the skies (though I was holding Elias and Fang was carrying Akira) and heading into the town. It wasn't long before we found a McDonalds, and headed down. Iggy, Nudge, The Gasman and Angel parked themselves on a four seater table next to the long kiddies table, upon which Raven and Cole plonked themselves, and Fang and I placed Akira and Elias in high chairs, and proceeded to sit next to them.

Iggy ordered, and the food was delivered to the tables, and then Fang and I set to work. I pulled out the file, split it in half, and the two of us started to read.

"Here, listen to this." I said to Fang, and his eyes lifted to meet my own. "'Project Generation is a series of experiments to test whether second generation experiments would be as successful as the first; the project was started in 2001, and, after six years was going to be deemed a failure when Dr Ter Botch had a breakthrough. Upon receiving eggs and sperm off two previous experiments (Maximum Ride, and Fang- from The Angel Experiment) he began experimenting, resulting in two successful embryos.

"They were named Raven and Cole by Dr Batchelder, and he ensured Ter Botch that they are highly powerful; upon hearing this, Ter Botch proceeded to make another two embryos from the same 'parents', these were later named Akira and Elias. Though The Angel Experiment was highly successful, it is thought that with enough training the experiments from Project Generation may, with the right amount of the training, become even more efficient than them." I read aloud.

"So the kids, they're… ours?" He asked, seemingly struggling with the concept; I nodded. He looked shocked, and it took him a few minutes to re-gain his composure.

"Okay, that's fine, I can handle that." He said, calmly, and his voice came out strong.

"So, how did you know about them?"

"Well, it's going to sound completely wack- but Raven came to me in a dream, when I was knocked out; well, two dreams actually. She showed me what was going to happen if I didn't destroy Itex, and then she begged me to save her." I said, and seeing the confused look on Fang's face, I explained.

"It's her power- to be able to make people see and think stuff that they wouldn't normally. She's an illusionist." I said. "And she can contact people in their minds- but only where they're asleep."

"Hmm, that really _will_ come in useful." Fang said, allowing me a small smile.

"I honestly forgot that you didn't know, you know that, right?" I said softly, and he reached over to hold my hand over the table.

"I know, and I can also see that you're already attached to them…" He trailed off.

"But?" I prompted, he shook his head, smiling again.

"Not a but, it's just, how do you think your mom and John are going to react?" He asked, I groaned and dropped my head onto the table- hearing him laugh.

"You're right- they're going to freak." I said, he kissed the top of my head before laughing again.


	51. Part: 4, Chapter: 51

51.

An hour or so after finishing our food the flock and I headed to a park to finalise the plans for the attack on the next Itex building. We sat under the shade of a tall oak tree; I was sat in Fang's lap, with Akira and Elias bundled in my lap, Raven was to our left and Cole to my right; the others were sat in a semi-circle around us.

"Okay, so the basic plan is that I go in and they lead me straight to Mariah, I lay low for a couple of hours and then I bust us out; I'll give a mental signal to Fang, and bombs away. Sounds easy, right? Wrong." I informed the group, and saw Nudge's smile lessen slightly, and as much as I hated that, I knew that I had to do it.

"Okay, we're going to have to split into groups again; first off we have to get in there- team 1, that's Fang, Iggy and The Gasman are going to have to go in and lay out the bombs; team 2 (Angel, Nudge and the kids) are going to keep attention off them. Okay, I've given this part a lot of thought, and I think I have it sussed.

Nudge, you use your metallic powers to make the front of the guards guns bend over, or something that will stop them shooting; at the same time I want Raven making a mental image distracting enough to hold them off, but only for a few minutes. This part should be easy enough- Angel, make one of them think that they've heard something and go off into the woods- Raven, as far as the guard's concerned, he's just trodden on a load of bees; the 'bees' chase him back to the other guards, and voila, distraction."

"What do I do?" Angel said, cutting off what I was going to say, I smiled at her.

"That's easy, I figure an image that strong's got to be quite hard to uphold for a four year old, right? And that's where you come in. If I'm right, you should be able to channel Raven's power using your own, therefore 'sharing the burden', so to speak.

Okay, so once that part of the plan's over you meet up with the guys and stay _outside_ of the area, okay? By this point I'll have gotten inside, and I'll get myself get captured, whilst still making it look authentic. It's once I'm inside that it's going to get hard. They might not take me straight to Mariah, so I'll have to provoke them- Angel, If you pick up on anything that will annoy the guards then let me know ASAP, if not, I'll just have to work some of my Max charm."

"And if they don't take you to Mariah?" Iggy asked.

"Then I'll find some other way to get to her, either way, by the time that it reaches 10 O'clock at night, those bombs are going off- regardless of whose still inside. We clear?" I asked, Nudge and Fang both opened their mouths to argue, but promptly shut them again, seeing the look in my eyes. After a long pause, the others all nodded.  
"Okay, good. Now, pick a tree and grab some shut eye- there's only a few hours until morning, and we'll need to set of early." I said, and ushered my flock into the high branches of the trees. I placed the two babies in a roomy hollow in the tree, and positioned Raven and Cole in two forked branches- so there was no way that any of them could fall out- before heading over to sit with Fang.

The others all fell asleep quickly, within mere minutes of each other, and I prayed that they slept well, they were going to need it, we all were.

"Max, you remember your promise, right?" Fang said, out of the blue, making me jump slightly.

"Not to leave you? Sure I do, why?" I asked, he paused, trying to find the words, and then spoke again.

"I meant it. If you do something stupid in there, and you… die, then it'll kill us all. Please, be careful; and even if you can't save Mariah, can you try to save yourself?" He asked.

"I'll try." I said, and he didn't press the matter; he simply nestled against the tree trunk and pulled me into his lap- I snuggled into his chest and he leant down and kissed me gently.

"I've got first watch- sleep tight, Max. I love you." He said, and I felt like I was soaring above the clouds- and trust me, that does feel pretty amazing.

" G' night Fang, I love you too." The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was the voice.

'_Good Night, Max. I'll see you tomorrow.'_


	52. Part: 4, Chapter: 52

52.

As planned, the next morning we set off bright and early, and reached our destination within the hour. The security here was even tighter than the previous base, but I still figured that we were good to go.

"Okay, Nudge, the guns?" I asked, she concentrated for a long moment, and then her eyes brimmed with tears.

"Nudge?" I asked.

"I can't! They're plastic or something, not metal."

"Don't worry, Nudge, that's fine." I said, and got ready for take off.

"Your not really going to go in there whilst they're carrying guns, are you?" The Gasman asked, looking more scared than I'd ever seen him in his eight years.

"No worries, Gazzy; I've already thought of this." A complete lie. "I have a plan." Another complete lie, and by the look on Fang's face he'd gathered that much from my thoughts.

__

"Remember, Max. Play it safe."

He said in my mind.

'_I said I'd try, I can't give you any more than that, Fang.' _Was my mental response.

"Angel, Raven. You ready?" I asked, and the two girls nodded, and adapted the same look of concentration that had crossed Nudge's face only seconds beforehand. Within a matter of minutes all of the guards were flapping their arms around- it was quite comical, really, considering they were flapping at thin air. Once we were sure that they were confused enough, Fang, Iggy, The Gasman and I took off. The boys headed straight over to the roof and began to lay out large bundles of wire and plastic which I knew would pack a _big_ boom; meanwhile, I did a few circuit laps around the area. The boys shot off, and seconds later the guards stopped their frantic flapping and returned to their normal stances, just in time to jump backwards when I swooped from the sky and shot straight through the middle of them and towards the front door. Instantly the guards swung round, their guns aimed at me as they let off a few quick shots. Luckily for me, I hadn't given them enough time to aim, so none of them hit me- or came too close, in fact.

That's when the shouting started as individual guards all screamed different curses at me. I was close to the doors when the first of the flyboys descended on me; I fought them off, making it look authentic, but at the same time trying not to jostle my ribs badly; although they'd healed quite a bit, they were still sore- and I had no intentions of re-breaking any of them. It was only a matter of minutes before they had me restrained; and it was then that I got the shock of my life.


	53. Important AN, sorry!

Hey guys, I just wanted to say that I am so sorry. Yes, I did promise that I was going to get this chapter out soon, but everything seemed to be working against me! I've gone into my last year of school, and so have a lot of homework and exam revision to do, not to mention that my poor laptop took an unfortunate trip down the stairs. I'm trying desperately to get all of my old documents onto my new laptop, but think that I may end up re-writing the last little bit anyway.

On an up note, I'm currently working on the start of the sequel, and all subplots and little twists to go along with the main plot, so that should be ready to go once I've finally posted the last few chapters of this. Thanks for sticking with me, and if you have anything that you really want to have happen in the sequel let me know! I'd also like to point out that my writing style might be a little different; having worked in a completely different style since writing this, I'm not sure how successful I will be at writing like this again- but I'll try!

-Nix xXx


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